


Take Me Home in Your Arms

by donttrusttheclogs



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Altean Prince Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Artist Keith (Voltron), Bisexual Disaster Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, Fluff, Flustered Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Halfway through, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, Memory Loss, Season 6 canon divergence, canon altean lance but done right, gives away the twist but whatever, klance, when keith gets back
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2019-10-31 21:23:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17857172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donttrusttheclogs/pseuds/donttrusttheclogs
Summary: When Keith suddenly returns after months of radio silence with the Blades of Marmora, Lance doesn't expect much more than the same heartbreak he'd cradled for years. He certainly didn't expect a young Altean passenger with a key to a part of his past he'd long since lost.





	1. The Altean

**Author's Note:**

> Who says you can't write s6 canon divergence fics two months after the entire show has ended. Not me, that's for sure. 
> 
> Honestly, I saw a prompt for this (that I have long since lost, whoops) back in August which was when I started this fic and Klance AU month, on top of how much I hate how canon did Altean Lance, convinced me to tidy up the first part! So.. here it is! I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> ALSO, MASSIVE THANK YOU AND UWU TO MY TRULY AMAZING ALPHA READER LEN!! YOU ARE A STAR AND I LOVE YOU FOREVER

When Keith decided to join the Blade of Marmora permanently, Lance wanted to be happy for him. He did all the right things: He smiled, wished him well, made jokes of the situation because that’s what was expected of him. Not the worry, the frustration, the heartbreak that flooded through him. That wouldn’t help anyone anyway, it wouldn’t change Keith’s mind, so why bother?

When Keith left, Lance wanted to convince himself that it was for the best. That it would give him time to get over his crush and focus on being a better paladin or taking down Zarkon or learn about himself or something productive that didn’t centralise on Keith.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

Instead, he got caught spiralling, sinking without a life raft. Hunk and Pidge were busy with each other; Shiro was the leader, still dealing with his PTSD; he had enough on his plate without having to deal with Lance’s selfish loneliness. Allura had made it clear she wasn’t interested in spending much one on one time with him, and to be honest, he didn’t blame her. He had gone a bit far with his flirting. Not that his feelings for her weren’t real or as strong as he’d confessed to the mice, but he knew they weren’t reciprocated, and it was easier to lean on her guaranteed rejection than risk his heart with the unknown of his other major crush. 

God, why did he have to be part of such a good looking team? 

Right off the bat you have Shiro and Allura, the two most gorgeous people Lance had ever seen. Easily. Standing next to them is like those photos of normal people standing next to Ryan Reynolds, it’s both depressing and a really nice view.

And Coran! Coran, Coran the gorgeous man was not just a figure of speech. Space Uncle knew how to rock a moustache and had a sense of flair that Lance idolised. 

Then there was Hunk and Pidge, the dynamic duo of engineering, crazy smart and crazy adorable. Hunk was like a big cuddly teddy bear that made your heart sing just by smiling and Pidge was a smaller teddy bear that a gargoyle had crawled into to use as a disguise to pass as a part of bear society.

And Keith. Keith was alright he guessed. Pfft.

He couldn’t let Keith know he liked him, not even the tiny Keith in his mind, not after having spent  _ years  _ insisting they were rivals. It was a matter of pride. Because his pride had gotten him so far in the past…

He knew he was being stupid, alright? He got that. But Keith  _ left _ . He left right as Lance was beginning to understand his feelings, right when he thought Keith might even be reciprocating them. They’d had  _ moments _ . Keith practically told him not to worry about his place in Voltron. As though he’d always have a place by Keith’s side.

And it wasn’t as if he didn’t love his team. He did. They were his second family complete with Space Dad and the quirky uncle. But for a moment there, after Shiro disappeared, it felt like him and Keith were finally on the same page.  _ He  _ was the one the team looked to to talk Keith into flying Black.  _ He _ was the one Red thought was worthy of flying as Keith’s second. And  _ Keith _ was the one who Lance went to when he was feeling unsure about his place.  _ Keith _ talked him down from leaving the team.  _ Keith  _ was his safety net, his impulse control and he liked to think he was Keith’s. But then Keith left and Lance didn’t hear anything from him in months _.  _ He could’ve been dead and Lance wouldn’t know. It wasn’t as if Kolivan was forthcoming on information, no matter how much he bugged Shiro to ask.

So when Keith answered their communication signal to the ancient Altean pod, Lance thought his emotional reaction was very justified. The explosion of happiness and relief in his heart, the indescribable dread that settled in his gut, his heart pounding to help it all along. Quiznak, he was a mess.

He was going to tell him, you know. When he announced that he was leaving he went to his room to pack up his gear and Lance was going to tell him. He was going to barge through his door and demand Keith listen to the speech he’d practised in front of the mirror. He was going to woo the shit out of Keith or send him running.

Of course he’d chickened out at the last minute.

At least Keith didn’t know how much of a coward he’d been. Keith was probably the only one who didn’t know.

The rest of the team had asked the normal, responsible questions to Keith’s sudden return, to his declaration against Lotor. All Lance had managed to spit out was “Does he look bigger to you guys? He’s bigger right? No?”

Some smooth shit he was. There was just something about Keith that either gave him beautifully salty snapbacks or sent him into a spluttering mess. Keith’s lack of social awareness was both a blessing and a curse when it met with Lance’s complete inability to be subtle about his crush. Hunk and Pidge had already put their two cents in extensively.

_ “Straight out of a high school romance novel! Dancing around each other certain that the other one couldn’t possibly feel the same. I could walk into a book store and find at least fifty books with that exact plot.” Hunk sighed at Lance’s misery. _

_ “Except gay and in space.” Pidge added from beneath whatever machinery she was tinkering with. _

_ “Okay so, maybe only five books with that exact same plot, but that’s not the point.” _

The team were all headed to the deck, Lance lagging behind lost in his own thoughts. He had to focus on what Keith had told them about Lotor, which admittedly, wasn’t much. Lance had never liked Lotor, and before you say anything, it’s not just because of Allura. It’s really not. He’s always just had this twisting feeling in his gut whenever the purple Loréal model shows up. And he gets that Lotor has helped them, that he took down Zarkon and is trying to bring peace to the empire. But it doesn’t stop him latching on to Keith’s words. “Lotor needs to be stopped.”

That’s literally all he said. Keith had always been a man of few words but this was ridiculous. Months away from the team and he didn’t even have more to say to Shiro. Let alone anyone else.

The team stood in a line as the mouth of the pod opened and Keith hopped down with the gracefulness of a swan.  _ Holy hell was he this hot last time he was here?  _ His hair was so long, what had he been using to get it to grow so fast? Why was Lance so fixated on Keith’s hair - he needed to get a grip.  _ Of that hair,  _ his mind helpfully added. Shiro had said something or other, probably something brotherly or paladin-y. Lance needed more than that, he needed an icebreaker, a classic Keith and Lance moment, something insulting would work well.

“Hold on,” he said, pushing as much suspicion into his voice as he could, calling on years of playing dumb so his siblings got the blame, stalking up to Keith with a finger raised. “How do we know you’re the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler, grizzled older brother?”

Quiznak, that was definitely closer to a compliment. Smooth insults seem to be losing to spluttering mess big time today. Had he actually just said grizzled? To Keith? About Keith?  _ To his quiznaking face? _

He could feel Red’s amusement, he made a point of sending an image of his tongue poking out.

“I don’t have time for this, Lance!” Keith practically yelled as he walked past him, dismissing Lance completely.

Well... that was certainly insulting, not to mention heartbreaking. Keith hadn’t even looked at him. Could Keith please just give off some kind of human emotion aside from anger or dismissal towards Lance? Just once? No? What a shocker.

“Hey, everybody, Keith’s back!” Lance yelped, his voice breaking slightly as he tried to cover up the pain. Lance could practically see Red’s glowing eyes rolling.  _ Shut up, I’m trying. _

“We need to stop Lotor,” Keith said again, still ignoring Lance. Why did he bother caring when Keith so clearly didn’t care for him? “He’s been lying to all of us!”

Lance let his hands drop back to his side, from this angle he could see the distress on his teammates’ faces as they took in the news, mere minutes after Allura and Lotor had gone into the quintessence field.

“Wh—lying about what?” Shiro questioned, worry and surprise tainting his usually level tone. Shiro had been the one who’d let Lotor in, the one to convince the team to trust him. Not to mention this was the first time he was seeing his brother in months and Keith was acting like they weren’t even friends.

“Everything.” The woman’s voice came from behind Lance, posh and filled with rage, and his body seized up at the mere sound of it.

“You’re—you’re Altean!” Coran cried as Lance turned slowly, all thoughts of Keith forgotten as a war he couldn’t make sense of raged in his mind at the sight of the tall blonde altean girl standing at the base of the ship.

Some corner of his mind acknowledged his teammates firing questions and Keith’s vague responses, the fact that there were two more passengers on Keith’s ship, that he was missing his chance to argue against trusting Lotor. He couldn’t bring himself to focus on any of that. Not when she was there, standing so still; he took one shaky step towards her and saw her gaze snap to him. Purple eyes widened as her jaw dropped.

“Lance? Is that… is that you?” His feet moved on their own accord, something in his body pulling him towards her. Her face broke open, tears met a smile as she sprinted to him, throwing her arms around him. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t think. He just gripped her tight, breathing in the scent of her his mind flashed to somewhere else.  _ Grassy fields. Houses made of stone. Fields of flowers before the start of the forests. _

“My Prince, I thought I’d lost you. I thought Lotor had gotten to you too.”

Prince. She’d called him Prince. He wasn’t a Prince. Who was she? Why did he know her. Why couldn’t he think. Lotor. Too much. It was too much. He stepped out of her arms, clutching his head he could hear himself talking but it was wrong, his voice felt wrong. “I don’t understand,” he groaned, swaying on his feet. Too much noise. There was too much. He couldn’t think.

“Lance, are you okay?” Romelle asked. Romelle. Her name popped into his head without reason. How did he know her name?

“Lance, are you okay?” Shiro called, taking a step towards them. 

Pidge leaned closer to Hunk, muttering, “Did she just call Lance a Prince?”

Lance looked up at them, at all of them. Looked for the one he needed. Keith. He always came back to Keith, standing with the rest of the team. He didn’t make it a single step. His knees hit the ground as the world turned dark, voices that he longed for filled his head.

 

_ “Lance, you know you can’t go with Lotor, you are the heir.” _

_ “I don’t want to be a part of the other colony, I just want to see it, I’ll be back within two vargas, Vera, please.”  _

_ “Romelle is a bad influence on you.” _

 

Two voices. A woman’s. He knew her, Vera. He couldn’t remember who she was to him. Why couldn’t he remember? The second voice was his own, it was different, warped, accented, but he knew it was his own in the same way he knew it was his face staring at him in the mirror. Lance sobbed as his eyes blinked in the harsh light. He was leaning against something warm and soft. Hunk.

“Romelle,” Keith sighed, he sounded frustrated, as though he’d been forced to repeat himself. Keith hated repeating himself. “Lance is from Earth, he’s human, Coran is the Altean.”

“Guys, he’s awake, let’s get him to the med bay, we can figure all this out when we know he is okay,” Shiro’s diplomacy attempted to cut through their debate. He felt strong arms pull him to his feet. He tried to help, to make his legs support him. The arms didn’t leave his side.

“No,” Romelle shot back, calm and icy, “this is Prince Lance of the Altean Colony.” She and Keith argued as they walked, neither backing down. Lance wanted to say something, help clear it up. But he didn’t know the answers. Why was this so confusing? He wasn’t Altean. He was from Earth, how could he be Altean. His vision blurred again.

 

_ “He’s a child!” _

_ “He crash-lands into our backyard Clark Kent style and you want to take care of him?” _

_ “Yes.” _

_ “And what will we do when someone asks why our son has elf ears?” _

_ “I don’t know yet, but like hell am I abandoning that child!” _

 

Lance would know those voices anywhere. His parents, the ones who’d adopted him after the accident, who’d loved him, given him his surname.

Clark Kent style.

Alien.

They were human. He made himself like them.

A haze of orange pried his hands from his face as Lance focussed his eyes on Coran, inches away from him.

“I don’t understand,” Coran muttered to himself. “How is this possible? You’re human.”

Lance pushed him away, searching for her, the only one who seemed to have any answers. “Romelle?” He pushed himself to his feet, stumbling forward, he would’ve crashed straight into the ground if Keith hadn’t caught him. Any other day this would’ve had Lance in about ten different stages of bumbling attraction, but not now. “Romelle, I don’t remember. I can’t remember!” He was shouting, it didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. The world around him blurred.

“We need to take him to a healing pod!” Keith growled.

“A healing pod can’t help him,” Coran said softly.

Lance tried to speak, he needed to understand. He needed to know.

 

_ Lotor stood beside him, a hand on his shoulder. Waving to Vera. _

_ Altean bodies lining the pods, their quintessence being drained. _

_ The man who gave his life to save Lance. _

_ Escaping. _

_ White light. _

_ Plummeting. _

 

The answers were there, dangling in front of him, he just needed to grab them. To clear his mind. He could hear yelling. His team. Romelle.

He opened his eyes on the couch in one of the rec rooms. Romelle sitting beside him. She brightened as he opened his eyes and reached behind her.

“Lance,” she murmured earnestly, her voice no louder than a whisper as she handed him a turquoise silk bag. “You gave this to me for safekeeping, do you remember? You said to return it to you when we next saw each other.”

The team were arguing in the centre of the room, hazy voices Lance couldn’t concentrate on. Coran walked over, watching Lance from the back of the couch.

Lance opened the bag with shaking hands, his fingers met cool metal as he pulled out a ringlet crown of intertwining gold strands, a bright blue crystal sat in the centre.

His crown.

Lance remembered.

“Is that—” Coran’s question was faint in Lance’s ears as he shot to his feet. He remembered, his memories slotting into place like they had never left at all, just been out of focus, assumed to be forgotten, or integrated into his identity as a human. He felt the magic wash over him, his ears lengthening, the burn of his skin changing after so long, the marks blazing against his cheekbones. He felt so strong. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but Lotor. Lotor, who was the star of the one memory that stuck in Lance’s mind. A nightmare he’d had for years that always plagued him after a hard day. One that had always been distorted, filled with faces of the people around him, his family, his friends, the team, until it was unrecognisable. The start of the thread that held his mistrust for Lotor, his last memory before he crashed.

 

_ Rows upon rows of shrivelled Altean bodies, piled high to maximise available space. Their quintessence drained to the last drop. Lance hadn't meant to go where Lotor had forbade him, he’d just wanted to explore. _

_ He had to get out. _

_ The sneering sprawl of Lotor’s voice surrounding him. _

_ “I warned you not to come here, little prince.” _


	2. The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang react to their teammates startling secret, some better than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY, GUYS, I LOVE YOU ALL!!! I was not expecting the reaction to that first chapter that I got, wow. Yous are all amazing I am truly blessed.  
> So I really wanted to get this out on my birthday so I could give all of you a (hopefully) lovely gift (that's how birthdays work right?) and I'm doing it with minutes to spare. 
> 
> Shout out to Len, who suffers through my inability to use commas and strange tendency to make up my own punctuation rules whenever Coran is involved.

Keith had walked away for a moment, moved from Lance’s side to answer Shiro’s questions. Had let himself be pulled away because Coran had said there was nothing to be done but wait it out. He’d walked away for a moment and Lance had found his strength, charging from the room, Romelle close on his heels. Keith didn’t wait around to see Coran’s shocked expression or hear Shiro’s sharp call, he just sprinted after them both.

Keith thought he’d be able to catch up, speed had always been his advantage, but he was barely keeping pace with Romelle, watching her turn corners as muscle memory told him they were headed to the bridge.

Keith skidded to a halt in the bridge, Lance’s seat and command screen had been activated and Romelle stood behind it, all Keith could see of Lance was his fingers racing across the screen, typing the Altean symbols faster than Keith could hope to follow.

“Quiznak, quiznak, quiznak!” Lance muttered, swiping away the screen in irritation, Romelle placed a hand on his shoulder as he huffed, bringing up the screen again only for his hand to hover aimlessly over the screen. “I don’t know where else to look,” Lance admitted, his voice hoarse. Romelle dropped down leaning against the arm of his chair, Keith could see the glint of something golden as Lance’s hairline appeared and Romelle pulled him close to her.

None of it made sense. How could they know each other?

“Lance?” Coran said, the word little more than an exhale. The rest of the team stood beside Keith, a clear divide between them and Lance. 

Keith had seen a lot since leaving Earth. 

He’d piloted giant sentient robots and fought flying cubes and spoken with aliens with three noses and tails longer than his body and none of it ever really bothered him. He’d discovered he was half Galra—the race that posed the biggest threat in the universe—and not even that, after the initial shock, had gotten to him. Keith prided himself on being able to roll with the punches. To take things as they are and move on to the next mission.

But this?

Lance pulled away from Romelle, and with a heavy sigh he rose from his seat and turned to face them. He stood with his shoulders hunched, chewing on his bottom lip, but none of that mattered to Keith. Not when Lance’s ears stuck out from his hair coming to a tipped point, when he had swirls of blue peeking out from the neckline of his shirt or the same shade of blue in crescents on his cheekbones. Not when a crown made of intertwining golden strands came to a point in the centre of his forehead with a crystal Keith had seen a hundred times on the Princess. Not when the world stopped making sense, because there was no doubting it.

Lance was Altean.

“What the fuck,” Pidge swore and Lance flinched, breaking his line of sight to the side, only succeeding in showcasing his pointed ear even more. He glanced at Romelle again and something changed, though Keith couldn’t comprehend what. But Lance straightened, his shoulders back and jaw set, he looked past Keith to Shiro.

“When will Lotor return?” Lance demanded.

It was so wrong. It looked wrong. It  _ felt _ wrong. Lance couldn’t be Altean. Not him **.** Lance, who came from a big family, who’d always been the most eager of all of them to get home. It didn’t make sense.

And yet, there was no denying it.

“Not for another hour.” Shiro’s reply was shaky. The whole team seemed to be stunned into silence. “But Lance…”

Something in Lance broke, right on the surface for everyone to see. Lance had always been expressive, he held his heart on his sleeve, but Keith had never seen him like this. He seemed to shrink, his marks fading from his cheeks until they were only a whisper of what they’d been, tears welled in his eyes and Keith had the urge to pull Lance against him, wrap him in his arms until the world disappeared, wipe away the tears that had started to fall. 

But of course, he didn’t. He just watched uselessly from across the room. Watched the tears run over his marks, his fingers running through his hair, avoiding the crown like he’d done it a hundred times, a mannerism that was so Lance it hurt. “I couldn’t save them,” his voice was barely a whisper, but it was deafening in the silence of the room.

Broken. The image flashed in his mind uncalled on, but Keith could see the painting clear as day, the messy strokes, the lack of colour save for the marks on his body. Keith dismissed it almost immediately.

He didn’t want to draw this. He wouldn’t. This wasn’t the Lance Keith had fallen in love with.

Keith had promised himself he would focus. Focus on the mission. On capturing Lotor. Convincing the team with Romelle’s story. He’d done so well, ignored Lance’s comments, ignored the twist in his gut at the crack in Lance’s voice. Lance. God, it’d been so quiznaking long.  _ Focus, Keith. _ His heart paid him no mind as it ached to help Lance, though it provided no answers on the how.

Romelle didn’t have that same problem, she took Lance’s hands in hers and tugged at it until he was looking down at her.

“Lotor told us you died,” she said firmly. “He told Vera that there was a traitor amongst his soldiers, and a Galra fleet attacked the ship and you  _ died _ .” Lance closed his eyes, his shoulders hunched over but Romelle just reached up and grabbed his chin, lifting it up, waiting until he met her gaze again. “I did not believe him for a second. I feared the worst. That Lotor had gotten to you, too.”

A hand was placed on his shoulder and Keith glanced back to his mum standing beside him. Quiznak, he hadn’t even introduced her. It had barely taken him five minutes to get distracted. He’d thought that the two years he’d spent without Lance would be enough to get over his feelings, or at least get a grip on them. And yet, the moment he’d seen those bright blue eyes staring at him, the kindling he’d carefully controlled had burst into wildfire, and Keith had burned like paper on a dry afternoon.

Romelle took Lance by the shoulders. “Don’t fall apart on me now, Prince.”

Keith watched the easy effect her words had on Lance, the way his spine straightened as he nodded down at her. A soft smile was on his lips, not a happy one, but a smile nonetheless. Keith wished he could be that for Lance, be the one he came to when he needed someone to lean on, the support that Lance had  _ always _ been for Keith.

They’d gotten close to that once. But then Keith had left.

At least he apparently had Romelle? Even if they hadn’t yet received an explanation of how it was possible, there was no denying that they knew each other. A few simple words from Romelle and out came the Right Hand of Voltron.

Lance brought one of his hands across his chest to hers, gripping it tightly. “We will take him down together,” he swore.

This was a Lance that Keith had drawn before, the one who stood tall, who was confident in his place in the team. This was the Lance that had really turned Keith’s head, who had made him look closer at what Keith had just assumed was a good-looking goofball who’d been in the right place at the right time. 

Lance used to look at him like that. Looked to him for leadership, but was always willing to call Keith out when he needed it. Lance had been  _ his _ partner, and Keith hated how jealous he felt seeing that look directed to someone else. He’d left. He couldn’t expect things to just go back to the way they were.

Keith was snapped out of his self-pity by Shiro clearing his throat. Right. The rest of the team were probably still trying to figure out the whole Altean Anti-Lotor issue. Keith needed to focus. He couldn’t let Lance distract him from his mission.

“Uh, Lance?” Shiro prompted softly; Lance pulled away from Romelle, rocking on the balls of his feet as he looked to each member of the team.

“Right… yeah. So,” Lance trailed off, his breathing becoming sporadic as he tried to keep it even. 

Keith was about to speak up, to bring the conversation back to Lotor, because it was important and because he couldn’t watch this devastating silence when Coran cut him off. 

“You’re Altean?” he snapped, and Keith was so surprised by his tone that he turned to look at the older Altean. 

Keith rarely saw Coran like this, gone was his jolly grin and whacky stories, frowning at Lance much the same way he’d looked at Keith when he’d told them about his own heritage. Keith’s gaze travelled along to the other members of the team.

Pidge’s eyes were downcast, her fingers twitching on a screen that wasn’t there. Her mouth small but ever moving, shaking her head slightly as she dismissed the theories flying through her mind at lightning speed. As each moment passed, she grew smaller, her shoulders hunching. A problem she couldn’t solve.

Hunk was looking around the team, avoiding Lance as he searched for some kind of recognition, of understanding. His eyes locked with Keith’s, the question burning bright in his gaze. But Keith just shrugged, shaking his head sadly. Keith watched Hunk’s eyes close for a moment, then open again as they drifted back to Lance, defeated, as though Keith had been his last hope.

Shiro’s forehead was lined and two fingers were pressed against his temple. Keith could practically see his hair greying as he contemplated this new hoop he would be carrying the team through. If the bags under his eyes were any indication, the man really needed a nap, or a week of induced sleep.

“Yeah?” Lance replied, a hand rubbing the back of his neck, and Keith had to turn the laugh that crawled up his throat into a huff, relief flooding through him. His response was just so  _ Lance _ . Casual and noncommittal, as though he were confirming he’d definitely cleaned his room when in reality he’d just shoved everything under his bed and called it a day. It didn’t fit the atmosphere of the room at all, but it fit Lance like a glove.

“Lance please,” Coran implored, stronger than before, a bite behind it that Keith wished he could block from Lance’s ears, so he could stop that flinch before it happened. Lance idolised Coran. He was that quirky uncle with the same sense of flair that Lance had. Keith had seldom heard Coran snap, and  _ never _ at Lance.  

“I…” Lance hesitated. His eyes met Keith’s filled with a fear Keith didn’t know how to interpret.

“I’m... I mean I—oh, for quiznak’s sake—” Lance’s hands clenched at his sides, his jaw set and he looked directly at Coran “I’m Prince Lance Heralos of the First Altean Colony, second child of King Alrusa.”

The room fell silent. A long awkward silence that was slowly seeping into Lance, cracking him apart from the inside. He was sucking on his top lip, his shoulders hunched together, shrinking further into himself with every second of silence. Keith could see it happening as blue eyes darted around his teammates before finally settling on Keith. Keith wanted to say something, anything. He couldn’t get his lips to move, his body frozen under that gaze. Coran broke the pause.

“I don’t understand,” Coran said, his voice tinged with irritation. “How have you been an Altean Prince all this time? What colony?” 

Couldn’t Coran see what this was doing to Lance? Didn’t he see how painful this was? Keith wanted to step between them. Change the subject, get those accusative eyes off Lance before he cracked, or Keith cracked. He had to move. A sense of calm washed over him, a low grumbling in the back of his mind that he felt down his spine, relaxing his nerves. It had taken him a while to get used to Black’s presence in his mind, so different to Red’s snark, but he’d missed it while on the whale, when the connection between them was so weak he couldn’t feel it at all.

Keith stepped forward into the space between them, turning his back to Lance so he couldn’t see the eyes that bore into his back, he looked around the room, locking eyes with each of his former teammates in turn before saying firmly, “We have more pressing issues right now.”  _ They do _ . “Lotor needs to be taken down.  _ Lotor _ is first priority.”

He needed to focus. He couldn’t think about Lance now. Even if he was Altean. Even if it was tearing his mind in two. Romelle and Lotor had to come first. It was more important, and he had to make the rest of the team see that, too.

“Except,” Hunk said quietly, “you haven’t told us why we should be attacking Lotor, or where you got an Altean or the Galra or why the hell my best friend is suddenly an Altean Prince!” Hunk’s voice got progressively louder, yelling the last words more at Lance than Keith. Keith shifted until he was standing between the two friends. Hunk’s outburst was justified. Keith knew that explanations were needed and fast. He felt Black rise in the back of his mind as he stared Hunk down.

“Romelle’s story is more pressing right now.” Keith kept his voice steady. This was the plan, this was the mission. “Listen to her and you will understand why we need to stop Lotor.” Keith moved his gaze around the room, looking each of his old teammates in the eye, “the rest can wait.”

Keith didn’t look at Lance. The rest. It sounded so simple. The rest was Lance, the rest was two years of missed time, the rest was his mother and his wolf and a hundred questions that needed to be answered. But they would have to wait. Romelle came first. The mission came first.

Keith stood to Lance’s side to give Romelle the floor. It wasn’t a planned move, but it ended up that way anyway. Lance’s hand brushed against his own so lightly Keith wasn’t sure it wasn’t intentional. He never knew with Lance. It returned a moment later, that light touch, Lance’s hand squeezing the side of his just enough that it couldn’t be an accident. A ‘Thank you’, perhaps. Or an anchor. Maybe things could just fall back as they were.

He could feel Lance shaking beside him as Romelle told her story. He had been a part of the colony, he would’ve known the people who died. He would have known Romelle’s brother. The rest of the team reacted as a unit; disbelief turning to shock, shock growing to horror, horror sizzling to anger. You could feel the heat in the room. They had all trusted Lotor, they had all gone against their prejudice, and let go of those first fights to trust him because they believed in his lies. Judged him by the few good acts he’d performed.

There were few questions at the end of her story. Agreements to stop Lotor, to wait until the Princess was safe and attack while his guard was down were made quickly and concisely. So it didn’t take long before even Keith was looking expectantly to Lance.

Lance wouldn’t meet their eyes, the marks on his cheeks not nearly as vibrant as they had been when he first changed. If it wasn’t for Romelle, Keith was sure Lance would’ve let them fade entirely. He knew they wanted answers, but he didn’t seem particularly keen on giving them.

Lance’s head whipped up to face Keith. “I want to know the rest of your crew first.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. Lance was stalling. He knew it, the team knew it and there wasn’t much more Keith could give him.

“This is Krolia, she’s part of the Blade. Also…” Keith glanced quickly at Shiro, his brother, the closest thing he had to family after his father died, “she’s my mother.”

“WHAT!” Keith jumped at Lance’s screech and almost missed the way Shiro’s face lit up. He walked over to Krolia and held out a hand.

“It’s an honour to meet you.” 

“Thank you, for everything you have done for Keith,” his mother replied, taking Shiro’s hand. Keith’s heart swelled as he watched two of the most important people in his life come together.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Lance butted in, waving his hands about because his obnoxious voice couldn’t possibly be enough to draw attention back to him. “You leave us for four months,”  _ has it only been four months?  _ “and come back with a  _ blue _ wolf, your Galra mother, and one of the only people in the universe who could get me my memories back! Damn, Samurai, that’s one hell of an adventure.”

Warmth bloomed in Keith’s chest at the nickname, the way Lance’s eyes sparkled when he said it, the easy grin that caused his heart to flutter. God he’d missed Lance’s smile.

_ Focus, Keith. _

“Lance, please,” Coran’s voice was softer this time. His hands were clasped tightly in front of him, his face stained with tears from listening to Romelle. Keith knew this would be hardest for the ancient Alteans. He’d watched them mourn their people, come to accept their fate as the last of their kind. They’d trusted Lotor, too, more than trusted him in Allura’s case, if what Coran had said was true, and all the while he’d been picking off the last colony of Alteans for the good of the Galran Empire. Even if Lotor had saved them first.

Lance pursed his lips, his eyebrows knotting together, wholly concerned. But he nodded and took a deep breath.

“Right, yeah, so I’m a Prince of Altea, or of New Altea anyway, my dad was King of the Alteans but he and my mum passed on the crown to my sister and went to the Second Colony when I was really young, so I was raised by Vera and the Vinca program, which is for the other kids whose parents had been chosen to go to the second colony.” 

Lance turned away, his gaze dropping to the floor as the team processed the implications. His parents had gone to the Second Colony, his parents had been murdered by Lotor. Keith wanted nothing more than to reach out and take his hand, to hold him close and tell him it would be okay. As though that would actually be comforting to Lance. 

“Sorry,” Lance shook his head again, before focussing his gaze on Keith. He nodded at Lance, at a loss as to what to say, but it seemed to be enough for Lance because he turned back to the rest of the team. “It's how Romelle and I know each other. Romelle never trusted Lotor, and always skipped the testing for the Second Colony. She was so worried about her brother, though I tried to help, I talked to Vera and convinced her to let me visit the other colony the next time they sent a group of Alteans. Not permanently, because I wasn't allowed to as the heir, but just for a round trip to see it and ease Romelle's mind that it was a chill place and stuff. I even gave her my crown to give back to me the next time she saw me. I thought it was going to be fine, after all, Lotor was the  _ saviour, _ ” Lance spat out the word, not bothering to hide the cracks in his voice, or wipe away the tears that had begun to fall.

“It didn’t take long for it all to go wrong. The planet wasn’t even out of our sights before we landed. Lotor told me we were picking up supplies. He told me to wait with the others, to smile and play my part. Even then I didn’t really think about it, I only snuck out to see if I could sneak some food back. I saw—“ Lance’s voice hitched and the semblance of composure he had been holding dissolved, leaving his remaining words hardly coherent between sobs. “—I saw them. The pods. They were—quiznak. Lotor was using them to drain their life—their quintessence. There were so many bodies. I knew— I had to know—they’re dead. So many more are dead.” Lance swayed, gripping Romelle for support.

Keith needed to help. He needed to do something. Anything. Romelle was there. It wasn’t enough. Quiznak, why wasn’t anyone moving? Why wasn’t  _ he _ moving?

Then Pidge did move, sudden but without hesitation, she ran forward and flung herself on Lance. Falling into him, letting him wrap his arms around her. “I’m so sorry, Lance.”

It didn’t take long for Hunk to follow, lifting both Lance and Pidge off their feet as he wrapped their arms around them. “We got you, buddy,” Hunk said warmly.

“Yeah, even if your ears are sticking into my neck.”

Keith saw the hint of a smile, saw the way Lance turned his head so his ears actually were sticking into Pidge. The way she squirmed and Hunk laughed. The easy balance between them that came with time cooped up on an alien spaceship.

Lance wasn’t okay, but he was loved.

“Paladins,” Shiro said, separating the trio, though Hunk and Pidge hovered by Lance’s side. 

“Yes, sorry.” Lance took a deep breath, stronger with his friends beside him. “I found the pods and then tried to escape. Lotor found me, and it all happened so quickly, I just knew I needed to get away, to warn Vera, to warn everyone. I don’t know how I survived. It felt like one second I was swerving fire and the next I was in empty space. I suppose I must have gotten caught in the…” he snaps his fingers at Keith, “what did you call it?”

Keith blinked, he hadn’t expected to be called on. His brain worked furiously to try and force anything out of his mouth as he stared blankly at those bright blue eyes.

“The quantum abyss,” Krolia supplied in that tone that she always used whenever Lance had been brought up. Lance frowned at Keith, a small confused frown that was bordering on a pout, and it was cuter than anyone had any right to be.

“Right,” Lance swallowed, looking back to Coran, “I got caught there and, I don’t know? It was like one minute they were firing at me and I was sure I was going to die and the next I’m floating through empty space for weeks, I thought I was going crazy, I don’t remember the crash, I just remember the pain, my adopted parents talking to me, asking me questions...” Lance trailed off, shaking his head, exhaling softly.

“I don’t remember a lot from that time,” Lance’s voice grew softer, “I know it took a long time for me to recover from my injuries and that I knew nothing of my life before the crash.” Lance glanced up nervously at the team. 

“I’m not sure when I changed my appearance to look human, but I passed as a thirteen year old and my parents never alluded to anything else. I’m still not sure how they managed it, they passed everything as an accident, adopted me, and I just accepted it all. Anything that came back, faces, names, dreams,” Lance choked on the word, “I thought it was all in my head. My parents never mentioned it, and half my family is adopted so that was nothing new…” Lance took a tentative step towards Coran, biting his lip when the older man took the same step backwards. 

“Coran, I’m sorry.” Lance said, tears flowing again with shuddering breaths. “Please. I’m so sorry. I wish I’d known, I could’ve told you, I could’ve saved you so much grief.”

Keith frowned at Coran, who had turned away from Lance. Keith could understand his surprise, his shock at first. But this was getting ridiculous, it was no secret that Lance was Coran’s favourite, why was this so hard for him to accept? This wasn’t Lance’s fault. 

“You’re Coran Wimbleton Smythe, aren’t you?” Romelle asked, staring curiously at the older man, her arms crossed. She stood behind Lance, “King Alfor’s Advisor?”

“You know me?” Coran asked in astonishment.

“Of course,” Romelle shrugged, “you were a major figure Altean history. I’ve written essays on your role in the war and in the King’s life. I learned about your ingenuity, your loyalty, how you never let your history with the King keep you from defending Altea right to the end. You were Lance’s favourite historical figure. Honestly, you were  _ everyone’s _ favourite historical figure. Lance is an Altean Prince and a direct descendant of Alfor’s bloodline. Don’t make the vows you swore mean nothing by not helping him now.”

It was becoming apparent that Romelle’s way with words would be something to be wary of.

At least she was using those words to defend Lance. It was more than Keith was doing. Keith hated how useless he felt, he wanted to be Lance’s first line of defence, he wanted to be  _ that _ person for Lance. Like his parents were for each other before his mum left, like how Shiro and Adam were before Shiro messed it up.

Shiro stepped forward and placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder, smiling down at him. “You are a part of this family Lance, now and always.” 

Lance beamed, nodding up at his hero and it warmed Keith’s heart. Keith knew how important Shiro was to Lance, how much he’d always looked for the older paladin’s approval. 

Lance’s face didn’t dim entirely when he locked eyes with Coran. The older man had relaxed somewhat. Lance stepped towards him again and though Coran raised his eyebrows suspiciously, even Keith could see that the anger had dissipated almost entirely. Lance’s smile only grew.

“Coran, Coran the gorgeous man, my dearest space uncle, the hero of the Battle of Choferiaks?” Lance edged closer and closer, rattling off titles that were clearly tugging at Coran’s memories as his grin grew wider with each one. Lance stopped right in front of him and paused, tapping his finger on his chin before suddenly poking it into the air. “The La So Fau of Alfor?”

Coran tilted back his head and laughed, pulling Lance into a hug, ruffling his hair. “They taught you that in school, my boy?”

“Well… not in the classroom, but you were always fun to read about,” Lance admitted.

“Even Losoro’s Sorrow?” Romelle called out from beside Keith. The effect of those words on Lance were immense. Lance visibly stiffened in Coran’s arms and whipped around to face her, flushed red from the top of his ears to where his neck met his shirt. It was enough to make Keith wonder.

“That,” Lance cried, pointing a finger at Romelle as she giggled. “is a work of fiction.”

“Based on fact,” Romelle countered.

“You read it too!”

“I didn’t just call the love interest space uncle.”

“Losoro’s Sorrow?” Hunk asked.

“ _ Love interest? _ ” Pidge cried.

“Okay first of all,  _ how dare _ you call Red the love interest, he was the goddamned hero of that novel and everyone knows it. Secondly, shut your innocent ears Pigeon, you are too young for this.”

_ Too young? How can she possibly be too—oh god. _

“Losoro will always be the protagonist, it’s his name on the cover!”

“You read smut about Coran.” Keith’s outburst didn’t need to be loud, just incredibly timed to hit the silence between Romelle and Lance’s arguments. It didn’t need to be loud for everyone in the room to hear it. And it’s volume certainly didn’t change the reactions from the team, led by Romelle, buckling over in laughter as Lance tried to splutter an excuse, denial, anything.

Coran came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Nothing to be ashamed of, young paladin. Romance is a form of art that should be enjoyed.”

Lance groaned, sitting on the step so he could effectively bury his face in his arms, “I hate you all.” He looked up to glare at Keith and Romelle, a glare that was a lot closer to a pout. “And I hate you two the most.”

“Alas little one, is hate and love not too closely entwined to be considered separate,” Romelle said sweetly, laughing when Lance made a face.

“You know, the fact you can quote it reflects more on you than me.”

“Except that you recognised the quote, Prince, and I’m still not the one calling Red space uncle.”

Their banter was light and teasing, full of inside jokes and pet names and it filled Keith with green poison that burned through him leaving nothing but charred remains.

“As cute as you guys are,” Keith said, a little too curtly, if the look Shiro sent him was any indication. “We need to make a plan to capture Lotor.”

Lance got to his feet and gave Keith his most confident smirk, unaware of the somersaults his stomach was performing at the mere sight of it. “Alright mullet, I know you’ve been mulling this over the whole drive here, what’s our play?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think in the comments or come yell with me on tumblr


	3. The Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lotor and Allura return from the quintessence field.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned! I did not mean for this to take so long but sometimes that's how it goes. Thanks to you all for sticking with me!

_ It’s not alchemy Lance! Breathe in as one form and breathe out as the other. _

The memory of Vera’s exasperated voice played in his mind as Lance shifted back into his human form, feeling the electric spark of the magic work up his spine, spiralling through his body as it shifted, bones shortening, organs rearranging in a hurricane of magic within him. How useful this would’ve been on missions. Even if he still got that stinging feeling that left his body tremouring as the last of the magic dispersed, a constant reminder that he’d never mastered the ability.

The team had all agreed that Lance should shift back for Lotor’s return, so not to bombard Allura with new information all at once. Romelle was more than enough proof to get Allura to turn against Lotor, and that was more important right now than Lance’s personal past.

It also gave Lance the perfect excuse to delay telling the woman he’d been flirting with for the last two years that “Surprise! Turns out I’m your descendant from a secret colony of your extinct species! Also, your boyfriend tried to murder me as a child!”

At least Romelle was here. Romelle who was  _ not _ allowed to find out that he’d been pining for one of the ancient rulers they’d had portraits of in his family home. Absolutely not. Not a quiznaking chance. They still hadn’t had a moment to talk, not with everyone here, and he badly wanted to. He’d missed her, in the way you could miss someone you didn’t remember. They had a lot to catch up on.

The team had received the alert that Allura and Lotor had returned, and were taking their places as per Keith’s plan. Coran squeezed Lance’s shoulder as he walked past, giving him a small nod that Lance returned with a smile. Coran had approached him after the plan had been set and apologised sincerely for his reaction to Lance’s past, assuring him that he understands that it was not Lance that was at fault.

That conversation had been little 14 decopheobs old Lance’s dream as his childhood hero stood smiling before him. Despite everything, Lance was struggling to connect Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe, the war hero who had inspired epic romance adventure novels and had been a major subject in their ancient history class who Lance had written more than one essay about; to Coran the eccentric space uncle who just yesterday had told them how he spent a pheob living in the trees of the Griezian Sur jungle to try and befriend the omnivorous birds that live there.

Coran was the only argument you needed against those who warn you not to meet your heroes.

“Two minutes out,” Pidge called, swiping away the hallway security camera as Allura and Lotor passed through, holding hands. Lance’s palms were sweaty against his bayard. What if they couldn't convince her? What if Lance had to transform to convince her and it backfired. Allura had never been one to throw new information at and now they were going to convince her that the man she probably loved was evil and Lance had a personal history with her and god it wasn’t going to work it—

Lance’s eyes locked with Keith’s and his brain’s spiralling stopped as the other boy took his wrist, squeezing tightly. Keith’s eyebrows raised in a silent question and Lance nodded.  _ Thank you,  _ the words were left unspoken as Keith retook his position, tapping his ear as he signalled he could hear footsteps.

Lance kept his eyes on Keith in the seconds they had remaining, let himself be grounded by him, watched as Keith looked to his mother, signalling something with his knife that Lance did not understand but Krolia obviously did as she nodded with a smile. That looked reminded Lance of his mami on Earth. That proud look in her eyes that she got when Lance brought home a swimming certificate or he mastered the family garlic knot recipe. Lance missed her more than ever, knowing now what she and his papi had done for him. Not just anyone would take in and raise an alien child they had found crash-landed on the road. It didn’t matter what he remembered of his birth parents, she would always be his mami.

A warm feeling washed over him, a mixture of Red and Blue that calmed his nerves as the doors to the bridge opened with a whoosh and Lotor and Allura strolled into the room.

Lotor.

The unmistakable growl of Red echoed through his mind.

Lance swallowed the bile that rose in his throat, fighting the urge to flinch as Lotor’s eyes swept over him and the rest of the paladins. Deafening screams crowded his mind, triumphed only by Lotor’s decadent voice ringing through his memories.

_ I warned you not to come here, little prince. _

“What’s going on?” Allura asked cautiously, taking a half step towards the team. Lance’s bayard powered up in his hand as Keith and Krolia jumped out, their weapons trained on Lotor.

“Allura, step away from Lotor,” Lance ordered, his voice holding steady with the help of his lion as Red kept his emotions in check, the last thing he needed now was to cry. He brought his bayard up to his shoulder, aiming directly between Lotor’s eyes. It could be over in a moment, all the misery and pain that  _ monster _ had inflicted on the Altean people,  _ his people. _

If he just pulled the trigger.

“I will do no such thing,” Allura cried, breaking through Lance’s thoughts, flinging her arms wide as she stepped between Lance and Lotor. “Tell me what is happening here!”

Lance breathed deeply, aiming his gun in the gap between her hand and head. He could easily make the shot, but they needed Allura on their side. Even if it was hard to resist when Lotor tilted his head, looking without a care in the world as another Altean offered their life for him. Lance wanted to wipe that look off his arrogant face. Thankfully, Romelle was able to do it for him.

“Lotor is a monster!” she shouted, and Lance watched closely as Lotor’s demeanour crumbled to horror, as his two worlds finally collided. “He has been harvesting Altean quintessence for generations!”

“An Altean!” Allura exclaimed, her hands dropping as she took a half step towards Romelle. “But how?” she glanced back at Lotor, her eyes wide, doubt flashing through them. Lotor blinked back at her, looking more frazzled than Lance had ever seen him.

“You killed my brother and thousands of others,” Romelle continued and Lance fought back tears as he thought of people he’d lost to Lotor’s destruction. His parents, Micah, Lady Arrisla. All the people he’d known growing up, who had all looked to him as a leader. Every single one of them that he’d failed.

“Lotor has been lying to us the whole time,” Pidge cried. “He’s a murderer, just like his father!”

Lance wanted Lotor to look at him, he wanted to look the monster in the eyes as he spat on him for all he’d taken from the Altean people. Of course Lotor didn’t, he paid Lance no more mind than he ever had. Lotor had never thought Lance  _ worthy _ enough of his time, not important like Allura or Shiro. Perhaps if he had, then he would’ve noticed the resemblance to the Altean Prince he’d tried to have killed all those years ago.

Arrogant bastard. He deserved what was coming to him. But they needed to focus on Allura first, get her on their side.

Allura was confused, she didn’t know what to believe or who to trust. Lance’s grip tightened on his bayard, knuckles whitening over the metal grip. He had to keep his cool. To breathe. Let them do this. This was Allura’s team, they had been working together for years, had taken down enemy after enemy together, formed a mental bond together. She would pick them. 

She had to pick them. Lance watched her process, her line of sight flicking between the team and Lotor and Romelle. She was going to pick them.

But then Lotor regained his composure. He straightened, standing to his full height. His expression twisted into the same mask he’d been using to hide his villainy all along.

“You know nothing about what you speak.” Lance was suffocating beneath the thick layer of charm Lotor was laying on. But Allura was desperate, Lance could see it in her eyes. She  _ wanted  _ to believe him.

“What are they talking about?” she asked and Lance hated how pitiful she sounded. How much power Lotor held over her emotions. Another Altean wrapped around his finger. Lance knew as well as any of them how strong Allura was. But everyone had a soft spot and Allura had found hers in Lotor.

“Allura, listen to me,” Lotor said, his voice softening, stepping closer, enrapturing her in his gaze. Lance seethed as he watched him abuse her emotions. He wanted to intervene, but one look from Keith had him backing down.

_ Stick to the plan, let the team handle it. One bombshell at a time. _

“I’ve dedicated my life to preserving Altean culture.” Lotor continued, weaving truth and lies with practised ease. “Now that we have unlocked the quintessence field, all of your people, who would’ve been hunted down long ago had it not been for my intervention, can live in peace. Were some lives lost in the process, yes, but they were martyrs to a noble cause. I sacrificed—”

Lance tried, he really did. But he couldn’t handle it, he couldn’t listen to Lotor  _ justify _ what he did. Spin excuses with his silver tongue, make himself look the hero Lance was sure he saw himself as. Not the murderer he was. 

He knew he should follow the plan, that there were a hundred ways his actions could go wrong. But it didn’t stop him from taking that first step, Lotor’s attention solely on Allura, he stowed his bayard and grabbed Lotor’s arm, twisting Lotor towards him. Swinging his hips, just like Keith taught him all those years ago, he directed all his power into his fist and hit Lotor as hard as he could.

He didn’t register the pain in his hand, or the shouts from his friends. He could only see Lotor, see the faces of the people he’d lost to the Galran prince. He could only hear Lotor’s voice in his head.

_ You shouldn’t have come here, little prince. _

He felt Lotor regain control, felt his legs wrap around Lance with a speed Lance couldn’t match and flip them over. Lance felt the rush of magic wash over him as he reacted, needing to be stronger, but before the fight could go further, strong hands pulled Lotor off him. Allura heaved slightly, turning from where she’d thrown Lotor across the room and back to Lance, as Keith’s hands hooked under his arms, lifting him to his feet. Keith on one side and Romelle on the other, her arm linked in his as she passed him his crown, they approached Lotor.

“Allura,” Lotor said hoarsely, blood dripping down from his nose. His gaze turned to Lance as he approached and, without breaking eye contact, raised his crown to his head. As Lotor’s mouth dropped open, Lance could see the fear in his eyes.

“But I—you died!” 

“No,” Lance said simply, as Keith approached the Galran, his bayard out. “I survived.”

Lance watched as Keith stepped forward, his unactivated bayard connecting with Lotor’s face. He watched as the prince crumpled to the floor. Then he turned away, refusing to give Lotor another moment of his day.

And found Allura staring wide-eyed at him.

“Lance? You have...”

Lance’s hand drifted up to his markings, he’d forgotten he’d changed back, the Altean magic had flowed through him so easily, with none of the painful tremors that usually came with it. 

_ Vera would be proud _ , Lance thought unhelpfully.  _ Though perhaps not at your ability to restrain yourself in a battle situation. _

Allura had saved him. She’d stepped in, even after he’d attacked the guy she loved with no warning, she’d stepped in without hesitation to save him. Lance knew she’d seen the truth, Allura was smart, but Lance also knew how poisonous Lotor’s silver tongue could be, and though he wouldn’t have blamed her for falling victim, he’d expected to have to do more to convince her. Apparently, he didn’t have enough faith in her love for the team.

“Hey Princess,” Lance said quietly.

“You—” she pointed a finger at him, “You’re Altean?” her eyes darted to Lotor’s unconscious body. “What the quiznak is going on!” She swung around to Romelle. “Who are you? Lance how? I don’t understand, how is this possible.”

Lance fought the urge to shrug as he had with Coran. He knew Allura would take it even worse and though it was still tempting, he didn’t really want Allura’s wrath directed at him. This was why they were going to let Romelle go first. Get Allura against Lotor first, before revealing Lance’s own heritage and completely messing with her head. So it wouldn’t overwhelm her and they could break the news one bit at a time.

So much for that plan.

“Let’s give the Alteans the room,” Shiro broke the silence, looking to Lance’s friends, gesturing to the door, “they have a lot to talk about.”

Lance watched mournfully as his only interference left. Keith was the last to leave, giving Lance one last look, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed into a thin line. It was an intense look, one that Lance didn’t understand. It didn’t stop Lance from throwing out a last plea to Keith’s mind.  _ Save me, Keith please, my great aunt is going to yell at me _ .

If Keith got the message then he really was an asshole, turning on his toes and following the others as they dragged Lotor from the room. Or maybe he just knew that Lance needed to talk to Allura and clear the air. Or maybe he just didn’t get the message, but Lance thought his mind mail was pretty clear.

Romelle took a step closer to him as he sighed, pulling his crown from his hair, flipping it between his fingers and holding it out to Allura. She took it with shaking hands, her fingers running over the crystal in the centre, watching it glow under her touch. She shook her head at him, repeating the same question.

“How is this possible?”

Lance still didn’t want to tell her, he wanted to pretend it was a trick, a prank, pull off fake ears and wipe away the marks and deal with her being angry because at least that was predictable. With the truth, he didn’t know what to expect. After all, Allura had pushed away Keith for weeks when his Galra heritage had been discovered. And that was just because his dad fucked an alien. Lance had done so much more.

Lance had forgotten the survival of the Altean race, a people she had mourned for years when all the while the key to knowing their survival had literally shared a lion with her. He’d known about Lotor’s treachery, his villainy, long before he’d stepped foot in the Altean castle. He’d known, it had all been there, dangling in the dark, just out of sight.

He could’ve saved so many lives. He could’ve saved her from loving Lotor. 

Quiznak.

He only spoke when he was sure she was not going to, telling his story for what he hoped would be the last time. He and Romelle took turns, alternating with their variations, letting each other fill in the parts that were harder to talk about.

Allura hugged herself as she listened, never breaking eye contact, her forehead furrowed. When they finished she brought one hand to her face, thumb sitting on her temple as the rest of her fingers splayed across her face. Lance just wanted her to say something, anything.

“Princess,” Coran said softly, Allura’s eyes darted to him. “This isn’t his fault. He can’t be blamed any more than we can be for surviving the fall of Altea.”

Allura turned back to Lance, her arms dropped and she nodded, a small smile ghosted her lips. “So you’re my…”

“Cousin,” Lance said quickly, trying not to think about the countless generations between them, “Trust me, it’s better to just think of us as cousins.” Romelle hooked her arm in his and Allura smiled at them both warmly, but then it froze, her gaze dropping to the floor as a hand ghosted over her lips.

“How could he do this?” she murmured, barely louder than a whisper, “I lo—”

Allura cut herself off, closing her eyes and taking a deep shuddering breath.

Lance didn’t doubt that she’d loved him. He knew how easy it was to fall for Lotor’s lies.

_ Lance was in his most formal outfit, the blue fabric tailored just for him, showing the marks up his arm proudly, as well as the ones that ran down his back through the slits in the back of the shirt. He loved getting dressed up, for any occasion, or no occasion at all, but today was different. Today was his first official dinner as the heir. His first official dinner with the Saviour. _

_ Lotor smiled as Lance approached him by Vera’s side. He held his head tall, hand firm as he shook the Saviour’s hand. Lotor said his name as Lance felt like dying on the spot. It was happening. _

_ “Prince Lance, it’s an honour to finally meet you officially. Your sister has told me quite a bit of the potential you show.” _

_ “Thank you, sir.” Lance had been respectful, had done as Vera and his teacher had told him when talking to the Saviour. He hadn’t been able to control the blush as Lotor leaned closer, winking at him. _

_ “Please, call me Lotor.” _

Lance had been enraptured by the man, by the legend he represented. The cover story to the lies he spun to get the Quintessence of a desperate people. He looked to Romelle and knew they were thinking the same thing. Even Romelle, who’d suspected Lotor’s treachery long before anyone else, had trusted him at some stage.

“You aren’t the only one who trusted Lotor,” Romelle said firmly. “And you certainly aren’t the only one who loved him.” She glanced to Lance with a knowing look. “He was our Saviour. He was practically a god. He has had millennia to perfect his lies, it’s not your fault that you believed them.”

“I should’ve known better.”

“How?” Lance argued. “He didn’t do a thing to even suggest he was capable of something like this. I was there, I knew him, and his lies were good enough that they didn’t trigger any of my memories. You couldn’t have known.” 

Allura turned away, closing in on herself but Lance just tsked at her. He opens his arms, and Allura rolled her eyes before stepping in, wrapping her own around him. “Does this mean that you aren’t going to flirt with me anymore.” she murmured against his chest, and as much as he loved that she wasn’t being hard on herself anymore… he could practically feel Romelle’s grin from where she stood beside him. He tried to pass off an awkward laugh as a casual chuckle, burying his head in her mass of white hair.

Their bloodline lost the white hair. Someone had written a book about it, marking the generations that had breeded it out. He’d been forced to read it for school, and it was all a bit dramatic, even for Lance. The way he saw it had been bound to happen with so few Alteans around but some traditionalist still threw a two hundred page fit over it. Vera had thought it would incite an understanding in him of their ancestors or some bullshit like that. Vera had always been more interested in that stuff than he was.

She used to tell him that he needed more knowledge of how to rule if he was going to be king one day. Lance had always laughed it off, much happier getting into trouble with Romelle than actually spending time with Vera learning to be a Prince.

If he’d known…

“Allura, I want to go home,” Lance said, pulling back from Allura, taking his crown from her and placing it back on his head, the weight of it already familiar. “Not forever, but just to tell them. They think I’m dead and they need to know the truth about Lotor even if it too many years too late.”

Allura turned to Coran, “Is it possible?”

“We have to make an appearance on Graliada in two movements for a coalition ball,” Coran said, tapping his chin, “and from how Keith and Krolia described the quantum abyss there will be some things we need to pick up to make the journey safe, but I should be able to make the upgrades by the ball, so we could potentially go after that.”

“Is that alright?” Allura started to ask but Romelle had jumped into Lance’s arms, swinging her around he felt the tears brimming in his eyes as he laughed. Two weeks. In two short weeks, he could go home.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Coran said, beaming at the pair of them as Lance smiled wider than he ever thought he could.

~~~

Allura and Coran caught on pretty quick that Romelle and Lance needed some time alone to catch up and had departed to begin preparations for the upgrades to the lions and castle. Romelle and Lance, finding themselves curled up together in Lance’s chair, catching up on years apart.

“Wait a tick,” Romelle said between bouts of laughter, “so you’re saying they didn’t even know about aliens on this planet?” Lance shrugged.

“We suspected it,” he explained, “and there were  _ lots _ of shows and stuff about the subject. But no proof, not any that was released to the public anyway.”

“That’s bizarre,” Romelle exclaimed, “thank Merda that you were the one to find the blue lion or you never would have found your way home.”

Lance chuckled, “Actually you should be thanking Keith for that, he’s the one who put together the clues of the location of Blue.”

Lance felt a faint rumble of approval from his connection with his original lion.

Romelle smirked, “ _ Of course  _ it was Keith.” Lance was certain he felt laughter from Red.

“What do you mean by that,” Lance asked cautiously. There was no way Romelle could know, not this quickly. He couldn’t be that obvious.

“Just that I see the way you look at him,” Lance’s heart stopped beating. “It reminds me of how you used to look at Lara and Tommy,” Romelle giggled as Lance felt his face flush.

“Hey, you wanted to be sandwiched between those two just as much as I did. And I do not look at Keith like that!” Lance’s voice broke as he said Keith’s name and he sighed. He wouldn’t have believed himself either.

“I’m just saying that when Keith was describing each of your friends he talked about you the most.” Romelle flipped her hair, putting on a terrible attempt at Keith’s deep voice as she said, “Oh and then there’s Lance, tall and charming and utterly gorgeous.”

Lance barked a laugh at her. “They would be the  _ last _ things Keith would say about me.”

“I think he would surprise you,” Romelle argued. Lance just rolled his eyes, he appreciated her support, but there was no way Keith liked him like that. “Hey, I just don’t want you to regret not telling him like I did with Mara.”

Lance paused for a moment, her words settling in. Keith smiling at him, Keith kissing him, Lance knew that boy didn’t use chapstick and his lips would be rough and it wasn’t as gross a thought as it should be. Lance shook his head. This wasn’t the time to be thinking about Keith. They were in the middle of a war! And, anyway, Keith was likely going to leave again now that he found his place in the Blade with his mother. It just wasn’t meant to be.

“How’s Mal?” Lance asked.

Romelle huffed, rolling her eyes, but she let Lance change the subject. “He’s wrangling the younger children like he always has. I think the current lot is actually worse than when we were there.”

“Impossible!” Lance cried, “We were the king troublemakers!”

Romelle snorted, “You were a goody two shoes until I showed up,” she teased, “I still remember the first time you suggested a prank, proudest day of my life.”

“You corrupted me, I was a menace on Earth.”

“I find that hard to believe, I bet you reverted right back to your Princely self when you lost your memories.”

“My siblings would tell you otherwise,” Lance retorted. 

“Well, Vera  _ was _ a lot more fun when you were around.”

Lance’s heart dropped to his stomach. His sister had always been the fun one out of the two of them, she’d always known how to make someone laugh and Lance had looked up to it as a kid. He supposed it was where that desire that he still had now came from.

To think that joy had disappeared when he’d left.

“Lance, it’s not your fault.”

“It is. I made the choice to go with him.” It was his fault. Even if he hadn’t meant to. He still could have stayed. He made the choice to go with Lotor. It was still his fault.

“If you hadn’t gone with Lotor, that monster would still be around murdering innocent Alteans.” Romelle said sternly, “And, because you seem to keep forgetting this very important point, _y_ _ ou didn’t know _ .”

“You did.”

“That doesn’t make what Lotor did your fault. You wouldn’t blame Alfor for not seeing that Zarkon was evil before he knew, would you? Alfor didn’t stop those murders, even as they happened while the Ancients were friends with the Galran emperor, but you’d never say they were his fault because  _ he didn’t know. _ ” Romelle hooked her finger under his chin, forcing him to look at her. “You didn’t know Lance, and no one can blame you for that.”

Lance pulled away from her. What she was saying made sense, but it didn’t overpower the mountain of guilt he felt. It didn’t make him forget the bodies he’d seen, piled on top of each other.

“I understand you have guilt,” Romelle said, softer “you survived this and they didn’t, but we stopped Lotor.  _ We won _ . And now we’re going to go home. In two movements you can see Vera again, we can show them the truth! We can show them  _ all _ of Lotor’s lies.”

If Lance hadn’t gone with Lotor they still wouldn’t know that they were lies. Lotor would still be free to do as he pleased with the Altean people. Even if Lance was late, he’d still survived. He could make it right and free them now.

Lance nodded at Romelle and she narrowed her eyes for a moment, Lance felt like she was trying to read his mind. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d attempted it. Apparently, whatever she’d found in there was satisfactory because she nodded and smiled, leaning back against the chair.

“Good. Now, tell me more about your Earth family. I need to know that my dumb Prince has been taken care of.”

Lance smiled, happy to launch into descriptions of his family, his mami and papi and all of his siblings. The conversation moved to Lance’s time in space, talking about his friends, both the good parts and the bad.

“You need to tell him, Lance,” Romelle said, interrupting Lance’s story about Keith and the Altean swimming pool, from that first time with the faulty elevator, to the two of them spending five of their days off figuring out how to actually use it. They’d discovered that in Altean culture, in order to relax in the pool you had to prove your worthiness and climb the pillars. The gravity switched once you hit the water. Lance had said it before and he’ll say it again; stupid Altean pools.

“ _ Romelle— _ ”

“Don’t  _ Romelle _ me!” she said, exasperated, “You are  _ smitten _ . You need to tell him, he already thinks he has no chance with you, one day he’s going to meet some tall hot alien and use them to get over you.”

“Romelle, he doesn't feel that way about me.”

Romelle groaned into her hands. “You touched his hands once and he went so red I thought his head was going to explode. And I was not kidding about how he talked about you on the way here. Lance this and Lance that. Lance with his dumb attitude and annoying ability to make people care about each other."

“That could mean anything.” Lance wouldn’t allow himself to even hope it. Keith couldn’t like him. Why on Earth would someone as serious as Keith, as beautiful, as utterly unreachable as  _ Keith, _ like someone like  _ him _ ? Even if he was a Prince now, Romelle made it sound like Keith had liked him for a while. And it just made no sense. 

“You’re a fool,” Romelle replied dryly, “and if you don’t tell him you will regret it.”

Lance sighed. She was right of course.

They were in the middle of a war. Keith had already left them once. But perhaps… perhaps it was a matter of giving him a reason to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Come talk to me in the comments or on tumblr @donttrusttheclogs


	4. The Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confessions and new plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello my darlings! I am jetlagged and exhausted but here is a chapter that I'm very excited to share! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it <3

Shiro dodged the handful of space popcorn Keith threw at him, continuing to talk over Keith’s protests, as he told the story of Keith’s first interaction with the Arusians.

 **“** I still stand by it,” he grumbled, “he was their finest warrior!”

Shiro shook his head at him, chuckling. “I’ve missed you.”

Keith rolled his eyes but he couldn’t hold back his own smile. He’d missed Shiro too. He’d missed all of them. He hadn’t realised just how much until those last few days when he was finally on his way home. He was grateful for his mother, for the time they’d had together, but two years was a long time and faces fade. He’d tried to remember, sketched whenever he could, keep them all fresh in his mind. But honestly, he’d failed.

In the days after a bad memory where he wouldn’t draw for days, the details slipped from his mind. The colour of Hunk’s jacket, the length of Pidge’s hair. The day he’d forgotten the shade of Lance’s eyes was the first time he’d cried in years. It was also the day he finally admitted his feelings for the Blue Paladin to his mother. She’d already guessed, apparently, Keith didn’t need to even be around Lance for it to be obvious. Thank quiznak that Lance was the most oblivious person Keith had ever met.

When he first arrived there hadn’t been time to stop and take in his friends. But once the dust settled and Shiro had ushered the humans out of the room Keith had gotten the chance to look, to remember the way Pidge’s glasses slip from her nose every few minutes, or the way Hunk’s smile warmed you from the inside. The bags under Shiro’s eyes that Keith was starting to think were permanently etched into his face. He was also sure Pidge was taller but he couldn’t decide if she’d actually grown or if his mind had just exaggerated her shortness, and he wasn’t willing to ask.

It was good to be back. Having their weekly ‘brother’ time that Shiro had insisted on when they first got to space. Originally it was so Shiro could catch up on the time they’d lost from the Kerobos mission. But it quickly turned into a tradition that was good for both of them. If Keith hadn’t noticed that Shiro had run out of medicine he was sure that Shiro would never have gone to Coran to ask for more. And without the offer to go to Shiro to whine whenever the other paladins bugged him, Keith knew he would not be as close to the team as he was. Though perhaps if he hadn’t complained about Lance as much as he had Shiro wouldn’t have noticed the big fat crush Keith had before even Keith realised it.

Shiro had always been the one who believed in him. Who’d always seen more than the troubled orphan the world had labelled him as.

Krolia had helped him a lot, but she wouldn’t have had much to work with if it hadn’t been for Shiro. Krolia had taught him how to refine the patience Shiro had given him, and how to use it to his advantage.

It was a dream to have them here together.

Even more so to see them getting along, even if it was at the expense of his pride as Krolia started the story of how Kosmo had outwitted him in hunting.

He reached blindly for the shelf behind him, pulling down his sketchbook, opening it to a new page. He’d missed real paper, Keith had always carried a small sketchbook with him on longer missions, but he hadn’t expected to need two years worth of paper and he’d had to become creative once he ran out of room. He’d transferred all of his drawings from his time with his mother to his old sketchbook, cringing at the old drawings. He’d come a long way since those original sketches of the team, of the aliens they met. Of Lance. He’d drawn Lance enough that he could probably fill an entire sketchbook with just drawings of him. Not that Lance had ever seen any of those drawings. No one but Shiro and Hunk even knew he drew at all. Hunk only because he’d walked in on Keith sketching Shiro fighting the guardian.

Shiro had been watching him draw for as long as he’d known him. Bought him his first proper sketchbook after seeing some of the doodles he’d done on snatched scraps of paper at the home. He’d bought him real drawing pencils too, though they had been left behind when Keith came to space. He’d made do with pen-like utensils he’d stolen from Coran’s room.

Keith settled back and started doing gesture sketches of Shiro and Krolia. Krolia on his bed, legs crossed, ears perked up as she talked about how Kosmo had come to them. Shiro was seated on the floor, his legs stretched out in front of him, mindlessly petting Kosmo who laid beside him.

It didn’t take him long to start adding details, to get them closer to people rather than balloon people. Keith had sketched his mother a lot while on the space whale so he considered himself a master at drawing her fur accurately. She’d once tried to return the favour, using one of Keith’s last pages to draw him with his Blade of Marmora sword. It was… interesting, it looked closer to something a five-year-old would draw, but Keith had it tucked away in a safe place nevertheless.

“Are you drawing us?” Shiro called, dragging Keith from his thoughts. He nodded, passing the sketchbook to his brother when Shiro held out a hand with a silent request. Keith wasn’t scared of Shiro seeing his drawings anymore, not after years of Shiro’s approval and excitement to watch him grow as an artist.

Shiro shook his head in amazement as he looked at what Keith had done, flipping back through the pages, pointing out what he liked best in each one.

“Wow, you’ve improved so much, these are amazing kiddo.”

Keith flinched at the nickname. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it, Shiro had always called him that and though he’d never admit it, he’d always loved the familiarity of it. The way it was just for him. However the last time he’d heard someone call him that, in flashbacks on the space whale, it hadn’t been so comforting. It had been his last day at the garrison, the day he’d decided there wasn’t any point in continuing. And it was the last time he’d seen Adam.

_Keith refused to meet Adam’s eyes. This was the fourth time this week he’d been here. Twice for fighting, once for calling the head of aeronautical sciences a liar because he said Shiro was dead. Shiro was not dead._

_“Keith,” Adam sighed. Keith crossed his arms, slumped in the chair in front of Adam’s desk. “If you keep this up, I can’t save you. You’ll get kicked out.”_

_Keith shrugged. He didn’t really care if he stayed or not. This was Shiro’s place, it had always been Shiro’s place. And Shiro was gone._

_Not dead. Missing._

_“Shiro wouldn’t want this for you, kiddo.”_

_“Don’t call me that,” Keith mumbled, knowing that Adam wouldn’t hear him. That was Shiro’s name for him. No one but Shiro._

_“I don’t know what to tell you. You’ve heard it all before,” Keith looked up at the exasperated tone. Adam looked like shit. There were bags under his eyes, his hair had thinned out and he constantly looked like he’d been crying. He often was. Adam took off his glass, wiping at his eyes, looking ten years older than he should, he sighed._

_“You don’t have to take care of me,” Keith muttered, loud this time. “I’m sixteen, I can handle myself.”_

_“Keith you need an education.” Keith rolled his eyes. Adam wanted to be Shiro. Adam who’d broken up with Shiro weeks before the biggest mission of his life, right before he disappeared. “The Garrison understands that you are in grief, but this is the last chance they are giving you.”_

_“How benevolent of them after they abandoned their top pilot.” Keith scowled at Adam. He hated how Adam talked down to him, what would Adam know about what he was going through? Shiro was all he had. Adam wasn’t Shiro._

_“Kiddo, you need—”_

_“Stop calling me that!” Keith snapped, louder this time. “And I don’t need to do anything, stop talking to me like you know me, like you know what's best for me! You aren’t Shiro, I know you like to pretend you are, but Shiro is gone and you aren’t worthy to replace him.”_

_Keith wanted Adam to be angry. He wanted him to lash out, to strike him, to make him feel something other than the despair that had been drowning him since Adam had pulled him into his office that day to inform him on Shiro’s mission. Keith wanted Adam to yell to prove he was missing Shiro too, but instead, the older man hung his head for a moment, Keith watched tears fall against the wooden table. But then, Adam straightened, wiping away the tears, staring at Keith with less emotion than he’d ever seen on Adam._

_“I’m sorry if I overstepped my boundaries, Keith,” Adam said stoically, closing Keith’s file._

_Keith’s heart pounded in his chest. He wanted to take it back. He didn’t want this. This wasn’t the Adam who’d been there for family dinners, who’d cooked because Shiro would burn water, who’d made Keith laugh until he cried and never half-assed anything, including his emotions. This Adam was empty, cold, a soldier._

_“Adam…” Keith said softly, but Adam spoke over him._

_“A disciplinary officer will be in touch with you about your actions this afternoon and possible consequences.” Keith had only met with the disciplinary committee once, Shiro had always taken on his cases personally, and Adam had been filling in since Kerberos. Not anymore apparently. Adam stood, looking down on Keith. “You are dismissed.”_

It had been one of the worst days of his life, and considering his life, that wasn’t an easy feat. But that day, Keith had lost his last ally, the last person he’d trusted. And it had been _Keith’s_ fault.

Keith and Shiro had talked about it. He’d considered keeping it a secret, but the moment Shiro had asked about Adam, about why Keith had run away when he could’ve gone to Adam… Keith hadn’t been able to lie. Shiro had forgiven him, he’d understood that Keith regretted what he’d said, that he’d been grieving. But it had been a long time before Shiro had called him kiddo again. It almost made the near-death experience worthwhile when Shiro wrapped him up in a bear hug and said, _“Kiddo, I swear to God, if you don’t stop taking stupid risks I will lock you in your room.”_

Shiro had only attempted to follow through on that threat once. The memory brought a smile to his face, even as Shiro teased him from across the room.

“You should have seen Keith’s drawings from when he was younger,” Shiro said, a gleam in his eyes as he noticed Keith defeated expression. “He used to do these adorable little comics, they were so funny!”

Keith rolled his eyes, Shiro was attempting to goad a rise out of him so Krolia would ask to see his first attempts at sketching, a superhero comic starring the villain ‘Captain Cabbage’. He wasn’t sure how Shiro had a copy of them on the phones Coran had provided them, but he did, and he hadn’t been afraid to use them, much to the delight of Hunk.

Keith huffed, ready to intervene for the sake of his pride when a knock at the door distracted him. Keith got to his feet, cringing as Shiro started explaining how _utterly adorable_ Keith’s main character was and opened the door to find Lance, turned half a step away from the door. Lance blinked twice, his mouth slightly agape, very much resembling a deer in headlights.

Lance blinked twice, his mouth slightly agape.

“Lance?” Keith said. He did not miss how Shiro and Krolia both cut off mid-sentence at the mention of Lance’s name. “What are you doing?”

“I—uh… can we talk?” Lance mumbled, turning his body towards Keith but breaking eye contact in the process, rubbing the back of his neck. He was a deep shade of red, and his Altean markings glowing slightly. But then Lance noticed Keith’s family sitting behind him and immediately tried to backtrack. “Oh, you’re busy,” he let out a nervous giggle, “I’m sorry for bothering you, I’ll go—”

“There’s no need Lance,” Shiro interrupted, and Keith could _hear_ the mischief in his voice. “We were just heading out.”

“You… you are?” Lance stuttered. Keith glared at his adopted brother as so blatantly tried to play matchmaker.

“Yes, you came at the perfect time, we were just leaving, Coran wanted help polishing cupboards, we just volunteered.” Shiro’s lies were obvious, and Keith hoped to all things merciful that Lance would not understand why Shiro was acting like a complete and utter shithead.

“You just volunteered,” Keith deadpanned, “just now?”

“Yes, it’s true,” Krolia confirmed. Her lie actually sounded believable. Unfortunately, his spy mother apparently forgot the rest of her subtly lessons and _winked_ at him as she left the room, right in plain sight of Lance.

Keith sighed, accepting his death, and gestured for Lance to come in. “What can I do for you, Lance?”

Lance’s eyes skimmed the room, his hands fidgeting with each other. Keith followed his gaze, watched it pause on the sketchbook _that Shiro had left open._ Keith dived for the book, slamming the image of Lance’s face that had been left open shut with a bang.

He turned back to Lance with a weak smile, and he was once again hit with how different Lance was. From this angle, Keith could see the delicate points his ears came to, and his marks glowing against his skin. Lance had changed into a simple blue shirt, that showcased markings down the inside of his forearm, and three strips across the top of his upper arm, the third disappearing into the sleeve of his t-shirt. All blue, and all faintly glowing in a way he’d never see Allura’s do. Maybe it was an evolutionary thing, there were 10,000 years between Lance and Allura.

He wanted to paint them, all of them. He wanted to pull off Lance’s clothes and mark onto paper every marking on his damn body and then make some marks of his own.

Because that’s how desperate Keith was at this point.

It had been a long two years alone with his mother, okay?

“I can make them disappear if it’s weird for you,” Lance said meekly, shrinking in on himself, one hand covering the marks on the side of his face. Like he thought _Keith_ would do anything but love them. Keith supposed Lance didn’t know that, not as though he’d ever told him. Lance’s marks started to fade.

“No!” Keith cried out, moving a step closer to Lance, grabbing the arm that was still rubbing the markings on his face. Keith froze, taking a step back again, letting go of Lance stiffly, suddenly unsure of where his hands were meant to go. “I mean, I like them. You don’t have to hide from me.”

“Okay,” Lance smiled at him, his marks coming back to full colour. A soft smile that Keith knew Lance only saved for the most worthy. A softness that Keith had only seen from a distance. That look was saved for Pidge when they beat a level of their video games together, or Hunk when they reminisce of their long friendship. Allura when she wasn’t watching.

When Keith was feeling particularly optimistic or lonely he would imagine that Lance would look at him like that when he landed a particularly hard move in his lion or gave out great orders as the leader.

Seeing it like this was so much better.

“So uh, what’s up Lance?” Keith said.

Lance rubbed the back of his neck, breaking eye contact with Keith, staring instead at the ceiling. “I… uh… I was wondering I guess what you thought about all of this?” He gestured awkwardly to himself, his marks pulsing with that glow as his cheeks reddened.

Lance expected him to understand, Keith was sure if it had been Hunk or Shiro they would’ve known exactly what he meant. But Keith just stared blankly, trying to figure out what Lance was referring to.

“With me being Altean?” Lance prompted, noticing Keith’s struggle. Lance had always been good at picking up when Keith didn’t understand something.

“What?” Keith was startled by the sincerity of Lance’s tone. He couldn’t believe Lance was actually concerned about this, that he might think Keith _,_  who had discovered that he was half-Galran, would have a problem with him being Altean.

“Lance, you know none of this changes your place in the team, right?”

Lance’s face fell a notch, but he nodded, “Right, yeah I know.”

It had been the wrong thing to say. Keith felt a lump in his throat, even if Lance was still smiling at him, he wanted that softness back. He wanted to be the one who caused it.

“And that nothing about your past could change our partnership,” Keith tried again, a little more tentatively, but the fear of rejection was swept away as Lance’s face lit up. Keith tried to hold down the butterflies that floated up his throat when Lance accepted that word for them so genuinely.

More than friends. More than rivals, though Keith still didn’t quite understand how they’d become that. They were _partners,_  equals. When Shiro disappeared, Keith had lost that voice in his head that told him he was worth something, more than just an orphan brat, a charity case, he'd lost the voice that had _always_ belonged to Shiro. Until it didn’t, until Shiro was gone and the team had needed him and Keith had been certain that he'd never be able to be what Shiro expected him to be. Until Lance stepped in, Lance who was kind and brave and strong and had wanted to be black paladin for as long as the position had been around. If _Lance_ could believe in him, trust him, then Keith knew he must have done something right to earn that.

It didn’t surprise him when Red picked Lance. Having Lance be his second in command felt right. Lance was the one who pulled him back from the edge, he kept Keith in line. Kept him going when it all went wrong. Lance was his equal, it was a dynamic they both understood, and Lance thrived in it. They had trusted each other through thick and thin and Voltron had been stronger because of it.

And Keith had broken that trust when he’d left to work for the Blade. He knew that he’d hurt Lance. He knew that Lance’s partnership with Shiro hadn’t been the same as his one with Keith, not unless Shiro’s leadership style had changed since Keith had been his right hand.

Keith followed Lance as he sat on his bed and waited for Lance to say something. But he didn’t, he just sat there fiddling with his fingers.

“What are you thinking about?” Keith asked, unable to stand the silence any more.

Lance looked up at him, biting his lip, his expression unfathomable. “Regrets,” he said. Keith felt breathless, was Lance… regretting Keith? Did he come here to tell him how much he hated him for leaving and never wanted to see him again?

“I missed so much on Earth,” Lance continued, and Keith held in his sigh of relief because of course it wasn’t to do with him, Lance wasn’t that sort of person. “Romelle was telling me about the colony, all the things I’d missed. Some of the people who’d…” Lance shuddered, wiping his eyes and Keith scooted closer, he wanted to hug him, say something to make it better.

“Lance, it’s not your fault, what you lost in the quantum abyss, you couldn’t control that.”

“I know,” Lance looked back at his hands, frowning, “I really do, that’s not what I meant.”

Keith was lost again. He was beginning to think he’d never figure Lance out. Lance’s fingers stopped twitching and he looked up at Keith.

“Are you leaving again?” Lance asked shortly, his jaw set as he stared right at Keith. Keith wanted to retreat backwards, look anywhere but those piercing blue eyes but he couldn’t drag his eyes away. Did Lance want him to leave?

“No.” Keith shook his head. He hadn’t planned on going back to the Blade, not permanently anyway. He’d missed his family. He’d thought some time away might help him get a grip on his crush on Lance, but the time apart had only made him mourn the blue paladin. And well, two years with his mother reliving all the greatest and worst hits of his life, including all the ones that had made him fall for Lance, hadn’t exactly helped.

“Okay,” Lance nodded, smiling a little, “Okay good. That’s good.”

“Yeah?” Keith said, his heart growing in his chest. Lance nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah, I missed you Mullet.”

If Lance kept this up Keith might explode. He could definitely feel the blood rushing to his face.

“Sorry, I’m being weird,” Lance mumbled with a bashful smile that was unbelievably cute. “I’m nervous.”

 _Nervous?_ Keith couldn’t comprehend why Lance could possibly be nervous. Unless…

No. It couldn’t be.

He couldn’t think like that, Lance had always loved Allura, even if they were weirdly, distantly related now, it didn’t mean he would ever look at Keith like that.

“I don’t understand,” Keith replied softly.

“Okay so, it’s like this. We’re in a war right? Any minute one of us could be killed and I don’t want to live with the regret that we could’ve missed out because I was too chicken shit to say anything.” Lance’s marks pulsed again and Keith desperately wanted to capture the image on paper.

“Right…” Keith said, prompting Lance to continue, refusing to get his hopes up.

Lance didn’t speak for a moment, pulling his crown from his hair, flipping it between his fingers to look at the crystal in the hilt. He looked back to Keith.

“Ten hours ago I was just this kid from Cuba, missing you like crazy because I’d finally beaten level nine on the Guardian and you weren’t here for me to boast too.” He shook his head, smiling widely, “And now you’re _here_ and you brought Romelle with you! Keith, I have my memories back because of _you._ Lotor is paying for what he did because of you. I get to go _home_ , to see a family who thinks I am dead, Allura and Coran can have hope for the future of their people and all I can think about is, _of course,_ it was you who brought it all together.”

Lance smiled widely at him, and Keith could barely breathe, and he was certain Lance could hear his heart pounding. He didn’t know how to respond, how to move forward from this. He didn’t know what Lance’s endgame was. He was too afraid to guess.

“I know we haven’t always gotten along,” Lance said with a laugh, Keith raised an eyebrow at him, “And _yes,_  I am aware that that’s mostly my fault.” Lance rolled his eyes. “But after everything that’s happened. I don’t want to go further without telling you the truth.”

Lance reached out and took Keith’s hand and Keith could’ve sworn his heart just stopped beating right then and there. “I like you. Like, I have feelings for you. I have for a really long time.”

Keith had heard him correctly right? Lance had said he had feelings for him. Romantic feelings? There was no other meaning for those words. Lance liked him.

Keith needed to say something. He needed to tell him he liked him too. Instead, he just continued to stare at Lance with his mouth hanging open.

“Obviously, it’s okay though if you don’t like me back, I just wanted to tell you and I did but I don’t expect anything from you—” Lance started to pull his hand back, “—and it’s totally okay if you just want to be—”

Keith reached forward and grabbed Lance’s retreating hand, effectively halting Lance’s rambles as he pulled him sharply towards him, his other hand moving behind Lance’s head. Keith had never been good with words, never been good at expressing his feelings. But he felt as though Lance would finally understand as Keith pulled Lance forward and pressed their lips together.

Lance smiled against him and melted into the kiss, his hand snaking behind Keith, tangling in his hair. Lance tasted like strawberries and somehow it wasn’t surprising. Or maybe Keith just didn’t care how Lance tasted, or why, not when the boy he’d been in love with for _years_ was pressed against him. Lance’s hand stayed entwined in Keith’s hair even as they broke apart, holding him there, forehead to forehead.

“Oh thank fuck,” Lance breathed and Keith laughed, opening his eyes to the brightest smile he had ever seen. Because of him. Lance was smiling because of him. And Keith knew his own grin was just as wide.

“Yeah,” Keith replied through shaky breaths. With one kiss Lance had rendered him even less capable of speech than normal. And honestly, it was worth it. Lance was so close, his eyes level with Keith’s, sapphires in shades of blue that Keith would never be able to truly replicate on paper. Lance was so beautiful.

“As articulate as ever, I see,” Lance teased, smirking.

“If you had just been kissed by a boy as beautiful as you, you’d struggle with words as well,” Keith retorted, watching happily as Lance’s markings glowed brightly.

“You…” Lance smiled again, laughing. “Quiznak Keith, you are going to be the death of me.” Lance mumbled, leaning into Keith again.

* * *

 

Acxa had grown impatient of watching the Paladins of Voltron fret about with their celebrations. They had her prince in captivity and Haggar still hadn’t given the order.

The red and blue paladin walked in hand in hand much to the delight of their team, the smallest yelling ‘finally’ as loud as they seemingly could. The clone himself stepped forward to hug the red paladin, ruffling his hair in a way that seemed almost endearing. Krolia stepped forward and Ezor hissed beside Acxa. “Filthy traitor,” she muttered. Acxa rolled her eyes, her aunt was not the prize in this war.

“Do we attack now?” Acxa asked the witch, she had to admit she was cautious when they had aligned with the corrupted altean, but it was too late to turn back now, and if anyone could get the Prince home it was Haggar. Especially now that the Blue paladin had revealed himself as an Altean himself, part of a colony that Lotor himself had apparently created.

“No,” the witch snarled, “We wait, with these new developments I believe our spy may lead us to a far greater prize for the empire.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats guys! You have made it to the end of phase 1 of this fic, it is by far the shortest and kindest of the phases. 
> 
> I hope you have enjoyed! Leave a comment, tell me about your favourite part, if you feel up to it, or come talk to me on [tumblr](https://donttrusttheclogs.tumblr.com/)


	5. The Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Lotor locked away, Lance and the team begin to look to the future.

Keith found Coran in, what Lance commonly referred to as, the star room plotting courses for the next week. They’d been briefed on the overall plan, but Coran was heading the search for all the things they needed to supposedly safely travel the quantum abyss without fear of getting lost along the way.

Keith was nervous. Not about talking to Coran, he knew Coran cared for Lance and just wanted the best for him, but he was the only person on the team who didn’t know that they were dating, what if he didn’t approve? Okay, maybe Keith was a bit nervous about talking to Coran, but it wasn’t just that. He was nervous because he’d volunteered to take Lance out on their first date and it had to be _perfect_.

So he had to have this conversation. Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door and it slid open automatically.

“Keith! What do I owe the pleasure?” Coran looked up from the map, grinning brightly at Keith.

“Hey Coran,” Keith returned the smile as Coran gestured for him to enter the room. “I was wondering if you knew any planets nearby that I could take Lance on a date—”

“What!” Coran cried, halting Keith in his tracks at the outburst. “You want to take Lance out? But he’s an Altean Prince! You aren’t royalty! Or Altean! You’re certainly not Altean Royalty!”

“What does that matter!” Keith retorted, leaning away from the accusatory finger Coran was jabbing him with.

“There is protocol! Altean traditions!”

Keith felt a panic rise in him. Stupid fucking Altean traditions could not be the thing that got between him and Lance. Not after everything they’d been through to get to here.

“Until yesterday none of those even applied to Lance!” he argued, desperate.

“This isn’t just about Lance! You need to get his primary guardian’s approval!”

“And who’s that?” Surely anyone who knew Lance, who knew either of them could see that Lance was happy. Keith just wanted to make Lance happy.

“Well, usually it would be the current ruler of Altea, or his parents back on Earth, so you should wait until we meet one of them before this relationship goes any further.”

Keith’s heart sank, he’d been waiting years to be allowed to date Lance, surely Lance wouldn’t let something like this get in the way. But what if he does, what if this tradition is important to him. What if he’d forgotten about it and now Coran was going to remind him and Keith would lose Lance right after he got him.

“Hm,” Coran hummed, and Keith looked up to him stroking his moustache, “Perhaps in the meantime, as I am still the advisor of the Altean Royal Family, I could act as his current Guardian.”

Hope bloomed in Keith’s heart and he looked determinedly at Coran. “What do I need to do?”

“Well,” Coran considered, looking up and down Keith, “We have to do something about your courting vestments.”

“My what?”

“Your courting vestments,” Coran repeated with no further explanation, “But first you need to leave, wait ten ticks and knock again. This is important Keith,” Coran added when Keith gave him an unimpressed look. Keith sighed and turned around, defeated in that all he could do now was follow Coran’s instructions and hope for the best.

**~~~**

“Wait so, you pilot the red lion, and are called the _red_ paladin,” Romelle said pointing at Lance. She had been keen to learn about Voltron and the Paladins, excited to hear about the adventures of a creature that they’d only heard about in legends. “But you wear the _blue_ armour.”

Lance and Allura both nodded.

“But why? It makes no sense.” But she was also enjoying poking holes in their logic.

“Because I used to fly the blue lion,” Lance leaned back against the couch plaiting the ends of Romelle’s hair as he explained.

“But you don't any more!” she argued, turning as much as her hair would allow her.

“No…” Lance gave Allura a questioning look over Romelle’s shoulder, a silent plea for a better explanation than the blank mind that he had right now.

“So why don't you wear the red armour!”

“Because the blue armour is fitted to him perfectly,” Allura pitched in, and Lance nodded.

“But isn’t the armour made of Salrin? Doesn’t it fit any form?”

“Yeah but…” Lance honestly didn’t have an answer, he looked to Allura but she just shrugged. None of them had ever thought about switching armour. The blue armour had just always been _his_. He couldn’t imagine Allura in blue. Or Keith sharing black with Shiro.

“But… you like confusing everyone you meet?” Romelle finished the sentence for him mockingly.

“We just had other things on our mind,” Allura replied, “Being a paladin, it takes a lot out of you, we don’t often spend our downtime worrying about how our armour looks.”

“That doesn't sound like Lance,” Romelle said with a frown that quickly changed into a laugh as Lance cried out behind her.

“Hey!” Lance tugged on her finished plait as Allura laughed beside him. It was nice to see Allura like this, happy. Though Lance knew she was just putting on a brave face for them. That though she wouldn’t give up spending time with another Altean for the universe, Lotor had left a gaping hole in her heart that she was desperately trying to avoid. And honestly, who was Lance to deny her that.

It helped that Lance really enjoyed spending time with Allura. He had wondered more than once in the day, since he’d recovered his memories if his affections towards Allura hadn’t been partially due to his subconscious pushing him to her, trying to make him remember. It would explain why he’d always been close to both the ancient Alteans, why he’d always enjoyed listening to Coran’s stories about his time on Altean more than the other Paladins had.

He hadn’t had a chance to really talk to Coran yet, to get those stories in more depth but in the last hour, he and Romelle had exhausted Allura’s knowledge of Altean, of her people, and of her Aunt Rowan: Lance’s direct ancestor.

A knock at the door made Lance pull himself to his feet, happy to get away as Allura started telling stories about some of his less than graceful moments as the Blue Paladin.

Lance was surprised to see Krolia smiling pleasantly at him.

“Lance, I was wondering if I may have a word with you?” Krolia looked beyond him to Allura and Romelle, “Oh, I see you are occupied,”

“No,” Allura said, approaching the door much too quickly, “actually I was just leaving, I need to talk to Coran about the castle visibility,” Romelle bounded up as well, winking at Lance she said.

“Yeah, I need to go watch her do that, you two talk,” she smirked at him, even as his eyes burned with rage as they abandoned him to his boyfriend’s mother.

“Lance?”

“Yes,” he stood tall, trying not to look as terrified as he felt. “How can I uh help?”

“I want to talk to you about Keith.”

Lance gulped, but nodded, unsure what Krolia would say next. What if she thought he wasn’t worthy of her son, he wasn’t, but if she was the one to say it it would be different. Keith would actually listen to his mother. Quiznak, she was going to break them up before they even went on their first date.

“I’m very happy you two have found one another,” Krolia said, and relief washed over Lance. “His feelings for you are very strong. When we were in the quantum abyss, we experienced… flashes, of our lives, our pasts, _our_ _futures_.” she pursed her lips. “For two years we were there, and nothing brought Keith happiness like talking about you.”

“Oh…” Lance took in a sharp breath, he hadn’t expected that.

“He... I left him when he was very young, and his father…” she sighed, “I realise my choices have hurt him in the past, but I want him to be happy, and I think you will make him happy. I just want to know you aren’t going to break his heart.”

“I have no intention of hurting Keith, I love him.” Lance ran his fingers through his hair. It wasn’t something he had been surprised about when he’d truly realised it the night before. When he’d sat for dinner, Keith’s hand in his under the table, that warmth that had bloomed in his chest, a familiar feeling around Keith. He’d listened to Keith laugh at something he said and realised exactly what it was. “I’ve loved him for a while actually, even if I was too dense to realise it.”

Krolia nodded. “I think you are a good fit for my son, from the way he describes you,” Lance felt his face heat up. Keith had told his mother about him. “And it’s lucky you are Altean.”

Lance frowned. “Why?”

“You’ll be able to keep up with him better.”

Lance felt like a flashlight as the blood rushed to his face. Surely she... “I—uh… what?”

“With your heightened strength, you can keep him in check better.”

Oh, that’s what she meant, Lance smiled shyly, berating himself for how quickly his mind went to the gutter—

“Also the sex,” Krolia continued without missing a beat, “Galra have a much higher appetite for it, and though he is only half-Galran, I feared you two might face the same difficulties I had with his father. But as an Altean you should be able to keep up a lot easier.”

“Oh,” Lance's response was shaky but he had no better ideas of how to possibly react to your brand new boyfriend's mum telling you you’d be good in bed. That's not something that was covered in Marco's ‘How To Talk To Your Partner's Parents 101’ class. He thinks that he would stump even the self-dubbed Parent Charmer with this one.

“I hope I haven't made you uncomfortable, I am not fully aware of Altean courting rituals,” Krolia said quickly, possibly noticing how Lance resembled a twitching, glowing, tomato. If they had tomatoes in the Blade. Probably not. Lance could feel both Red and Blue laughing at him, it wasn’t often that Blue opened their connection, but apparently, this show was too good to miss.

Lance forced a smile on his face, “No, it's fine! I just haven't talked to Keith about any of this yet so you caught me by surprise!”

Krolia frowned. “I apologise, I figured you would have realised your sexual attractions by now.”

Lance bit back the exclamation that it had been _eighteen hours_ since he and Keith had started dating.

“I will talk with Keith about this,” Krolia continued, ignorant of Lance’s deep desires for her to _not_ talk to his boyfriend about their sex life, “Nice talking to you Lance,” Krolia left the room before Lance could find words of protest. He slumped against the couch when he heard Krolia’s raised voice just outside the door.

“I thought I explained the nature of your Galran side clearly Keith, you need to talk to your mate about this.” some muffled voices. “He’s in there, go talk to him! Yes, right now.”

The door whooshed opened again and Lance turned, ready to face another awkward conversation when all thoughts flew from his mind as he took in Keith's attire.

“What… are you wearing,” giggles bubbled out of Lance as Keith huffed, the front of his dark purple jacket fluttering. Atop his head was a very tall pointed hat and he had what would be equated to ballet slipper strings wrapped from his feet all the way up to just above the knee, where they met the ends of his pale blue shorts. Around his shoulders was a silver cape.

“Coran told me this was the proper attire for a date with Altean Royalty,” Keith grumbled.

“I mean, _babe_ , I know we’ve discussed how your mullet is outdated, but I never expected you to go for fashion that died out literal millennia ago.”

Keith pouted, it was absolutely adorable. “Coran picked this out! He said it was the only way I could court you!’

“Yes, absolutely,” Lance replied immediately, “That’s definitely still a thing that you have to do.”

“Lance.” Keith deadpanned, and if had been two days ago Lance would’ve been sure Keith was about to hit him by the dark look in his eyes.

But since it was now, after Keith had made it very clear just how much he liked Lance, Lance just grinned at him. Lance cocked his head, looking up and down Keith’s body again, failing to contain the laughter. He looked like what Lance remembered of the portraits of the old kings and queens of Altea and the Colony.

“Lance please…”

“I’ll see you tonight!” Lance pecked Keith on the cheek as he walked out the room. Chuckling as Keith called after him.

“Lance!”

“I’m really excited!” he called back, chuckling as he heard the distinct thump of Keith’s head hitting the wall.

~~~

Coran stood tall as he approached the cell where they held Lotor. He had decided he would be the one who would come down here every day to check on Lotor. Not that it was required, the pod would provide food and alert them if the systems were messed with in any way. Lotor could rot here, unconscious and vulnerable until they all forgot his name.

Coran came down here because in over 600 years of life he'd never met someone he felt such satisfaction leaving in stasis as Lotor.

For the things he'd done to Lance, to young Romelle. To a scattered and desperate people. For the way he'd let Allura fall for him, let her mourn with him, all while knowing that he held her people in his grimy conniving hands.

Coran checked Lotor’s vitals, made sure that he had only enough food to survive. Made sure that even unconscious, the Galran Prince would suffer for what he had done.

He did this so Allura wouldn’t have to. So the kids who’d trusted him wouldn’t have to.

Coran’s sliding halted as he something dark whipped around the corner of his eye. Something in the stasis pod. He stared closer, watched the spot until he was sure he’d imagined it when it happened again. A spindle of darkness sparking from Lotor. Coran frowned, he tapped the screen a few times, brightening the light in the stasis pod and gasped. A dark aura surrounded Lotor, smaller sparks of darkness crackling around him. Coran fingers tapped faster, more urgently, to the menu he never thought to check.

**Quintessence levels: 229%**

But this wasn't Quintessence. Or at least, it shouldn't be manifesting in Lotor in this manner. Coran needed to run more tests, he needed to talk to Allura. Perhaps this was a side effect of having been in the Quintessence field.

The screen went blank and Lotor's pod pulsed, pure dark quintessence energy slamming into Coran, knocking him to the floor. The lights flickered and the room fell into an eerie silence without the beeping of the pod. Coran pulled himself to his feet and placed his hand against the pod, channelling the small amount of pure quintessence he could manipulate, drawing in the stores Allira had given him to power the ship. The lights steadied and the dark tendrils retreated, though Coran could see them still, in the darkness if Lotor's eyes, open and staring.

Coran slammed the door of the cell, locking it manually, and headed upstairs in search of Allura. This was bad.

~~~

Keith fidgeted nervously outside of Lance's door. The flowers Allura had provided for him in his hands ready to give to Lance. Hunk was busy in the kitchens with the food they'd prepared and Keith was wearing his best shirt, as well as the Altean jacket Coran had given him just in case Lance hadn't been kidding about following the tradition. Keith was sure he’d been kidding. God, what if he hadn't been kidding and Keith showed up without it on. Lance was a Prince. An actual real-life Prince and fuck Keith needed to go change he couldn't take Lance out like this he had to—

Keith had half turned when Lance's door opened, and Keith froze, feeling like a deer caught in headlights. That is until Lance's face split open into the widest smile, “Keith!”

Keith's heart stopped at that look, and how _happy_ Lance looked. He was making Lance happy.

“You know, that jacket by itself isn't terrible on you.” Lance’s eyebrows raised, “Are those flowers?”

Keith flung the flowers out in front of himself, right into Lance's face. “Sorry!” he cried, pulling them back but Lance grabbed Keith's hand, pulling the flowers back, breathing them in.

“I love them,” he said, “should I leave them here? or bring them with us?”

Lance looked stunning.

“Oh uh,” Keith mumbled after a silence that lasted far too long. “I didn’t think of that.”

Lance smiled, not seeming to care, “I’ll leave them in here then, you don’t happen to know if they need water do you?”

Keith flushed further as another thing he probably should have known he didn’t.

Lance laughed, “It’s okay, we’ll just hope for the best.”

“Yeah,” Keith said, and reached for Lance’s hand, then stopped, Coran’s lesson about proper Altean courting still ringing in his mind.

“Keith,” Lance said, grabbing the hand that was still hovering between them. “Chill, it’s just me.”

Just Lance. Just his best friend and the person he trusted more than anyone, just an Altean Prince, and a war hero. Just the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. Just his boyfriend. How the fuck did Keith manage that again?

Keith just smiled, entwining his fingers with Lance’s, dying at the way they fit together perfectly. He hadn’t ever been one for destiny or fate. but even Keith couldn’t help but know that Lance, as they walked hand in hand, couldn’t be anything but his future.

“Okay, uh, this way.” he stammered slightly as he led Lance down the path Allura had taught him, ignoring the huff of laughter from black that reminded him awfully of Shiro.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

~~~

Lance loved surprises, every birthday on Earth his family had thrown him a surprise birthday party, Vera used to surprise him with family nights and Romelle would whisk him away on surprise adventures when he felt too stressed at home. But with Keith… The last time Keith had surprised him with something was when he’d thrown his blade at Lance in the middle of one of Shiro’s explanations in a training session because he believed Lance’s reflexes weren’t good enough.

Knowing Keith, he probably thought it was flirting.

But Lance definitely felt he had a reason for being nervous as Keith led him down dark corridors he didn’t recognise.

“Keith?”

Keith paused and turned back to him with big bright eyes. “Just… just trust me.”

This should not be legal. How the quiznak was Lance supposed to argue with anything he said when Keith looked at him like _that_. Who gave this boy the right to be so quiznaking cute.

“What are we doing here?” Lance asked as Keith pulled him into a large room with a rise in the centre.

“This is where Allura would come to visit her father,” Keith explained, fiddling with some switches on the wall as Lance looked about the room.

“Keith, if you’re making me talk to the last King of Old Altea as our first date we need to have a conversation about the meaning of romance.”

“No, I—” Keith sighed, grabbing Lance by the arm and dragging him further into the room. “Just… close your eyes.”

Lance looked at him warily.

“Please?” Keith gave him that look again and any arguments slipped from his mind. If someone had told him that Keith could be this soft when they’d first come to space he would’ve sent them to Coran to have their head checked. But now, now he was stuck with this idiot with his big dark eyes that made Lance’s insides do somersaults in the best kind of way and he’d do anything to make Keith look this soft for the rest of their lives.

Lance closed his eyes, his heart pounding as Keith’s hand slipped from his.

“I swear to God Keith,” he muttered, as much to keep his own nerves under control as anything else, “If you throw something at me I’ll end this date right here,”

Keith’s hands found his again and Keith whispered, “Open your eyes.”

Lance’s hand came up to cover his mouth and he took a sharp, shuddering breath as Keith stepped away. Tears sprang into his eyes as Lance took in the open blue skies, the waves washing up on golden sand, the sound of seagulls behind him and the smell of the sea hitting him all at once. Lance took a shaky step forward and Keith rushed to him, grabbing his arm as though unsure that Lance would hold himself upright. Lance barely noticed, unable to focus on anything but the rough feeling of the sand beneath his feet, and the breeze coming in from the west, or the warmth of the sun above them.

He turned to Keith, wiping away tears with his free hand, the other gripping Keith’s hand tightly, never wanting to let go.

“How?” Lance’s voice was barely louder than a breath but Keith just smiled softly and turned them away from the ocean. Upon the banks, Lance could see a carpark with a single grey car.

“That’s my dad’s,” Keith said pointing to the vehicle. “He drove us to the beach one year for my birthday. This is one of my memories.”

Lance turned back to the ocean, breathing in that sea breeze. Gods, Lance was lucky to have Keith.

“Is that okay?” Lance turned back to Keith with wide eyes. He stood looking only at Lance, biting his lip.

“Oh Keith,” Lance turned fully and wrapped his arms around Keith, “this is perfect, I can’t believe you did this.”

“Well, I knew how you missed the ocean… We’re still in that room though, so if we go walking along the beach we’ll smack into a wall.”

Lance chuckled into his shoulder, “Why does that sound like it comes from personal experience?” he teased and Keith flushed bright red. 

“There’s more.” Lance let Keith lead him closer to the water, giggled as he felt the water wash over his feet. It wasn’t quite the same as dipping your feet in the actual ocean, but he could feel the chill of it, the way it came and went with the waves. It was more than he’d felt in a long time.

“Here,” Keith picked up a blanket that Lance hadn’t noticed while staring at the horizon. “A picnic?”

“Oh Keith, forget what I said, you are definitely winning in the romance department.”

“I never thought I’d hear you say that I won anything.”

“Yes well, I’m a little overwhelmed right now with how truly amazing you’re being.” Lance dropped to his knees on the blanket and flipped open the basket. “I see you had some help in food prep?”

“I figured space cereal wasn’t going to cut it for date night,” Keith admitted as Lance pulled out a container. He smiled as he opened it to Hunk’s lasagna next to a smaller container of cake pops, a clear line down the middle of one’s made beautifully and the rougher ones.

“I’m sorry some of them don’t look so good,” Keith said quickly and Lance pushed the containers to the side to grab either side of Keith’s jacket pulling him in for a chaste kiss.

“Keith, this is perfect.”

“Yeah?”

“Quiznak, yes!”

Keith beamed at him, and Lance had never been happier.

~~~

Keith still had butterflies as he walked Lance back to his room.

He couldn’t stop staring, couldn't keep his eyes off Lance as he went on about using the last of his special space mall face cream. Keith could listen to him talk all night.

Keith couldn’t believe he was so lucky to be here, to be at Lance’s side. To be _with_ Lance. He fully planned on going back to his room to draw everything he could of Lance by his side, Lance staring at the horizon, Lance splashing amongst fake waves.

“Well,” Lance said softly, “This is me…”

Keith couldn’t help but feel disappointed, he didn’t want the night to end. Keith thought about what it would’ve been like if they’d done this on Earth. Lance’s Papi standing behind him, waiting for Lance to go inside. Would Lance want him to kiss him? Keith was supposed to kiss him.

“We should do this again sometime,” Lance said, his marks glowing slightly.

Keith stepped forward pressing his lips firmly against Lance’s, his hands on Lance’s waist, thumbing the skin that showed there. He lick Lance’s lips and Lance responded beautifully, opening up as Keith’s tongue swept through his mouth **.** Lance let out a shuddering breath as they separated.

“Definitely.” Keith could spend hours in the training room with the gladiator and barely break a sweat, but a moment with Lance left him breathless.

Lance looked at him through long eyelashes. Keith watched blue eyes dip to his lips and Lance was wrapping his arms around Keith’s neck muttering, “Oh fuck it,” as he tugged Keith back against him, deepening the kiss once again. Keith grinned as he let Lance pull him backwards, the door sliding shut behind them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. Hit me up in the comments below or on [tumblr](https://donttrusttheclogs.tumblr.com/) if you want to tell me how much you love or hate me otherwise, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!


	6. The Sunset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance, Keith and Romelle take a field trip on an alien planet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Softness ahead, savour the moments while they last

Lance tilted his head back, his arms spread wide as he closed his eyes and just absorbed the warmth of the two suns in the sky. Keith watched him from the bottom of the ship, trying to commit the image to memory. The beaming smile that was brighter than any star, the way Lance’s eyelids fluttered shut, how he spread his arms wide to welcome the sunshine. The shine of the jewel in his crown. He was stunning and Keith wanted nothing more than to draw him. 

He and Lance had spent the night after their date curled up on Lance’s bed. Their bodies a tangle of limbs and late night talks and kisses. Keith had never felt more open, more safe, than lying there across from Lance. The late hours and soft smiles breaking down his walls until he was answering any question Lance asked. Some of the things Keith had admitted, not even Shiro knew. Things about his past, his dad, his mum. Every horrible detail Lance had met with a soft kiss; on his hands, his forehead, his cheek. An everlasting comfort that Keith had never thought he’d be allowed to have.

As Keith stepped out of the castle, the heat hit him like a truck. It had been a very long time since he’d encountered a real sun and Keith had already shrugged off his jacket in the warmth. Lance’s jacket, despite being the thicker of the two, was still on Lance’s shoulders.

“You know,” Keith teased, wrapping his arms around Lance’s waist, “You’d feel it more if you took off your jacket.”

He still didn’t quite believe he could just do this, wrap his arms around Lance, lean into his shoulder. Not just hear Lance sigh, but feel it against him, feel his hands drop to his sides.

“Just because it’s sunny doesn’t automatically make it eighty degrees,” Lance said back and Keith had to pull away from Lance to stare at him indignantly.

He didn’t miss the way Lance’s eyes ran down him. He’d worn an old shirt that was definitely a bit too tight, the discomfort was worth it.

“You need it to be  _ eighty degrees _ to take off your jacket?”

“I’m Cuban,” Lance replied simply, as though that explained everything. He turned back around to continue to bask in the sunlight.

“You’ve never even been to Cuba.”

“It’s in my blood.” Oh, Keith could definitely hear the bite in his tone now.

“Your blood is Altean.” Lance dropped his arms again with a huff, turning to scowl at Keith.

“You know I thought that having you like me would mean that you were too distracted to pick apart my arguments now.”

“Lance I’ve liked you for years, I’ve had plenty of time to learn how to ignore your particular distractions.”

“Keith, that was so gay.”

“Does that surprise you?” Keith said with a sly look, stepping closer so he was inches from Lance’s face, Lance standing right at eye level.

Lance had always enjoyed being taller than Keith, and Keith had been very excited to have that advantage in two year age jump and growth spurt. He was almost certain Lance had exaggerated his Altean form height just to try and overtake him again, but he couldn’t make himself be mad about it. Not when they were now at perfect eye level, shoulder to shoulder, equals as they always were meant to be.

Lance leaned in and Keith’s eyes flickered shut and—

“Ugh really, before breakfast,” Romelle groaned, dragging her feet out of the castle doors. The sleeves of her dress pulled back to show the turquoise marks that ran down her pale arms.

Keith was a little ashamed as to how quickly he jumped out of Lance’s embrace at the sight of Lance’s childhood friend. He felt like he had a reason to be a little intimidated! Lance had explained how close he and Romelle were the night before, had spoken in depth of all the things they’d been through. And Keith knew that after her brother, after losing Lance the first time, she would be very protective of him. And that wasn’t a bad thing, it just meant that he had to be worthy of Lance. He had to prove that he could be worthy.

Lance gave him an amused smile before directing his attention to Romelle.

“If you haven’t had breakfast yet, that’s your fault. I told you we were going out over an hour ago, vanity isn’t everything you know.”

Romelle rolled her eyes and Keith felt like he should mention that Lance had been late to more than one occasion thanks to his own vanity. But the moment had passed before Keith could say anything.

Lance leaned his head against Keith's shoulder, intertwining their fingers as he murmured, "She doesn't bite, you know."

Keith shoved Lance away as the Prince laughed at him, though Keith did not let go of Lance's hand. Lance smirked at him and Keith rolled his eyes.

"So, what are we doing?" Romelle asked.

"Right now, we're waiting for Coran to get here to drive us into the city.”

Lance had organised their entire day, Coran had mentioned they would be stopping here at lunch the day before and he’d jumped at the opportunity to show Romelle an actual planet. Pidge and Hunk would be starting upgrades on the lions while Coran fetched some things they would need. Allura and Krolia were exchanging information about the war efforts while Shiro took a well-deserved rest that Keith and Lance had forced on him after they’d walked in on him collapsed in the hallway, clutching his head in pain. Shiro was lucky Keith didn’t just shove him in a cryo pod.

Lance lifted their joined hands, bringing them across Keith so Lance’s arm was around Keith’s shoulders and Keith’s own arm was across his chest. It was a smooth move that left Keith blinking as Lance pulled him closer. Romelle rolled her eyes and Keith just knew the exact smirk that was currently on Lance’s face. Though, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“Princess! We aren’t done talking about this!”

Keith looked to Lance at Coran’s sharp tone, carrying from the inside of the ship.

“Yes, we are!” Allura replied, apparently unaware they were talking loud enough to have an audience. “He is staying where he is and that is final!”

“Allura please,”

“Coran, stop. Focus on your mission.”

The three of them made themselves look like they hadn’t been eavesdropping, Lance laughing slightly too loudly as footsteps approached them.

“Hello, young ones!” Coran cried, beaming at the three of them, looking no different than any other day. It made Keith wonder what other things the older man had covered up with a smile. “Lance said I was dropping you off in the market district?”

“Coran is everything alright with Allura?” Romelle asked, ignoring Coran’s question and his attempts to fool them. Coran’s smile faltered.

“Yes, of course,” Coran nodded, “Now let’s head off, there’s too much to see to be waiting around like a pack of ___”

“But—”

“Romelle,” Lance murmured to her, shaking his head when she looked at him, Keith doing the same alongside him. Coran was the most loyal person Keith had ever met, he would never betray Allura’s confidence unless it was life-threateningly essential. There was no point in arguing about it.

They loaded up into the local transport Coran had called for them. (“Keith look! It’s a space taxi!”) Coran said something to the short six-legged alien driving them and turned back to Lance.

“We’re dropping you off at the main street markets, yes?”

“Yes please!” Lance responded joyfully, “we’ll meet you back there for pick up afterwards if that’s okay?”

As Lance and Coran made plans Keith took in the city as it formed around them. According to Lance, it was one of the biggest contributors to the coalition after they had freed it from Galra control during Keith’s time with the Blade.

While Lance and Keith had been on their date, Coran, Pidge and Krolia had sat up and worked out the best way to protect the castle and the lions while in the quantum abyss. Krolia had explained parts of it to him over breakfast and Keith, in his state of exhaustion from having just gotten up after four hours of sleep, barely understood a quarter of what she was saying. 

Coran bid them farewell at a grand archway leading into a large courtyard, that was bustling with people and Lance casually slipped his hand in Keith’s as they started forward. Keith couldn’t help but breathe in the smells of the market, losing himself to the familiarity of it all, so similar to the food festivals his dad would take him to as a kid. What his dad would think of him now, wandering around a market in a different galaxy. He’d probably still complain that no matter how far they go, there was no festival like the one in their hometown.

It was the only story his dad would tell Keith about Krolia. The first time they went to the festival together, how beautiful she’d looked in the light of the lanterns. And, after watching that memory through his mum’s eyes in the quantum abyss and listening to his mum talk about his dad for hours, Keith hoped he and Lance would find the same happiness together. The kind of love that lasts a lifetime. 

Lance smiled at him as Romelle pointed out a stand that was covered in small gemstones, that soft smile that still made Keith’s heart leap into his throat as butterflies swarmed his stomach. Held onto the picture even as Lance turned away, painting it in his mind, knowing that he’d never be able to capture Lance’s essence on paper when he lived in such vibrant colours. Shades that only existed in the depths of Lance’s eyes, in the warmth of his skin, and the sound of his laughter. 

Keith smiled as they walked, hand in hand, through the marketplace. Though Romelle and Lance were certainly louder than Keith, he never felt out of the loop as he walked with them, telling Romelle stories about their paladin adventures, and listening to her own about the colony. Lance became an easy point to refer to, Keith had plenty of embarrassing stories to keep the red paladin red in the face as the three of them laughed. More than once they were stopped along the way so a resident could pose for a photo with ‘Loverboy Lance’, though Lance was unusually tight-lipped about how the nickname had become popular.

“They just know charm when they see it, Mullet,” Lance winked, clicking his tongue as he did finger guns at Keith. Keith snorted.

“Sure they do Sharpshooter.” Keith caught Lance’s hands as they dropped in mock shock. 

“Worked on you didn’t it?” Lance snarked, stepping closer to Keith so they were barely an inch apart.

“Debatable,” Keith replied, even as he leaned into the kiss, trusting Lance to dip him back ever so slightly, Lance’s hand warm and steady on his back as Keith let himself fall into Lance’s arms. It was strange to trust someone this much, to throw them your heart and trust them to catch it before it falls.

And as Lance kissed him, Keith let himself fall and fall and fall into the feeling of being loved.

“Seriously, we will never find food if you two don’t stop making out,” Romelle’s voice cut into their moment for the second time that day, and though Lance separated their mouths, he didn’t move back far enough for Keith to stand up straight.

“No offence Romelle, but that sounds like a ‘you’ problem and not a ‘me’ problem.”

“Wow, I help you get the guy and you just abandon me,” Romelle crossed her arms, and Lance just shrugged. Keith shifted slightly, his back getting stiff without the distraction of Lance’s mouth. Lance stood up pulling Keith up with him with an apologetic smile.

Despite her dramatic words, it didn’t take long for Romelle to abandon them, the first sign of a food truck had her running over with the bag of credits Allura had given her.

Lance looked at him with a glint of mischievousness in his eye before he was tugging on Keith’s hand, pulling him to the other side of the festivals, down one of the small alleyways behind the tents. The Prince wasted no time shoving Keith against the wall and pressing their bodies together in a way that was somehow filthier than anything they’d done the night before.

Lance attacked Keith’s mouth, pushing hard in a mess of teeth and tongues and Keith’s head scratched up against the rough wall behind him. Keith knew this wasn’t just a kiss, it was a fight, a competition, a rivalry Lance had started like every other one they supposedly had. And no matter how far Keith was willing to fall for Lance, he wasn’t going to just  _ let _ Lance win.

Keith’s hands found Lance’s hips, gripping tight he pushed, flipping them over with startling speed. Keith grinned at the gasp Lance let out as his back hit the wall, though Keith didn’t give him time to breathe, pressing their mouths together again until Lance was pliant against his mouth. A small victory that Keith savoured, softening the kiss, moving it across Lance’s face, down the side of his neck as Lance made noises that Keith could spend his whole life listening to.

“Keith if you keep this up we’ll need somewhere more private,” Lance said through staggered breaths. Keith wasn’t completely against that idea, though the thought of Lance, pressed up against this wall, the public walking by while Keith wrecked him was also very tempting. He hummed against Lance’s collarbone, not making any move to stop. Lance’s hands moved against his chest, pushing him slightly but Keith didn’t let up, didn’t stop drawing those sounds out of Lance.

“Ahem, Mr Paladin, sir?” Keith jumped away from Lance so fast he almost tripped backwards, the mood shattering as a tall green alien stood staring at them, scratching the back of his head with two of his four arms. “I’m sorry to disturb you sir but we have a strict policy on public mating during marketplace hours.”

“Oh God, we’re so sorry!” Lance clapped a hand over his mouth, and Keith fought off the urge to laugh as endorphins coursed through him, the rush of being caught was exhilarating. Lance grabbed his hand, still murmuring apologies to the officer as he led Keith away. 

Keith was still laughing when Lance hooked his arms in his, hiding his head in Keith’s shoulders. “Why are you laughing,” he whined, though Keith could hear Lance’s own amusement.

“We just caught making out like we’re a pair of horny teenagers fucking behind the simulator,” Keith said, collapsing in another string of giggles.

“We are a pair of horny teenagers Mullet,” Lance stood up to give Keith his trademark ‘you're an idiot smile’. A look Keith shot right back at him.

“Speak for yourself child,” he said, “I’m twenty-one.”

Lance stopped suddenly, frowning down at his own hands, the sleeves of his jacket rolled up to reveal the swirl of altean markings down his arm. “So am I…”

“Lance?” Keith asked, taking a concerned foot forwards as Lance threw back his head and laughed.

“My parents thought I was thirteen but I was sixteen! I’m twenty-one years old Keith.”

“Does that make you older than me?” Keith laughed too.

“I think it does? If we use my Earth birthday?”

“When is your actual birthday.”

Lance frowned, his eyebrows scrunched up. “I…” He scratched his head, “I don’t remember.”

Keith raised his eyebrows, Lance’s birthday on the ship had been one of the biggest events of the year, he’d made sure they celebrated well. Of all people, Lance wouldn’t be the one to forget his own birthday.

“This is so weird, maybe Romelle knows it?” Lance continued, shaking his head. 

Keith smiled back, waving his hand for Lance to follow him, “Come on, weirdo, she’s probably waiting for us, you can ask her.”

Lance nodded, taking Keith’s outstretched hand and letting him lead him back to where they’d left Romelle. Though, before they got there Lance stopped suddenly, his grip tightening on Keith’s hand to make him stop too and suddenly he was being dragged in a different direction.

“What the fuck Lance?” Keith cried out when they finally stopped, Keith saw what Lance had been so enamoured by.

“It’s a video store!” Lance announced, grinning widely as he bounced on the balls of his feet. “We can get some movies and start movie nights again now that the team is back together!”

Shiro had been the one who’d started movies nights back when they’d first truly realised they were going to be together for the long haul. After a hard mission, or a long training session, or even just a bad day, Shiro would order them all into the lounge or, in Keith’s case, literally drag them in by the ear and make them sit and watch one of the weird Altean movies together.

Shiro told them that they had to be there for each other on the hard days, or they would crumble the moment the Galra tried to break them. They had to be a team, first and foremost because right then, all they had was each other. It was the best thing Shiro could have done for them, they grew close on late nights trying to decipher the cryptic messages of the Altean romances, placing bets on who would win the fights. Shiro made a group of mismatched teenagers into a family.

The movies nights stopped when Shiro disappeared.

Keith remembered the day Lance stood at his door. The way he’d knocked and knocked, yelling and then begging Keith to let him in, to come to the movie. “ _ We need to stick together Keith, please.” _

Keith had just ignored him. 

So, now, as Lance stared at him with such excitement, Keith replied, “That’s actually a really good idea,” 

“No need to sound so surprised,” Lance commented as they started browsing the shelves.

Keith wandered over to the back of the store, flipping through the paper thin cases of what he assumed were action films, tucking a couple that looked interesting under his arm. He kept strolling around the room until he got back to Lance.

“Find anything good?” he asked, as he approached his boyfriend. Lance practically jumped out of his skin, shoving whatever case he’d been holding back into the row, dropping all the others he’d been holding in the process. Keith blinked slowly at him as Lance dropped to pick up the cases. “Lance?”

“It was nothing, look I found all these movies, let’s get out of here!”

“What was that?”

“Nothing! Porn! Straight alien porn. Can’t show that to Pidge. We should leave.”

Lance sounded about as convincing as a crumb covered five years old telling her mother the dog ate the biscuits.

But Keith didn’t question him as they paid for the films and met back up with Romelle outside the food cart.

He did, however, tell the others that he needed the bathroom and slipped back into the video store, flipping through the cases until he stopped on a goldmine. He left the shop with the case slipped into his jacket pocket, significantly more excited about the upcoming movie night than he’d been earlier.

~~~

Lance seemed to know exactly where he was going. When the bells started sounding throughout the town, Lance had jumped to his feet and led them out of the market, walking towards the large grassy hill that overlooked the town. As they got closer Keith realised that it wasn’t a hill, but a giant vine-covered rock and Lance was staring intently at it as he wandered the perimeter.

“Hah!” Lance cheered as he traced his fingers over a sketching in the rock.  _ A+C.  _ He spread the vines to the side of it to reveal a small mossy staircase hidden by the hanging plants.

“How did you know that was there?” Romelle exclaimed, looking dubiously at the stairs.

“Coran told me about the inscription. He said this was the best place to watch the sunset,” Lance shrugged and led the way up the stairs.

It was a long climb, but it was not uninteresting, they could see the town descending through the small gaps in the vines as they climbed. And the plants themselves, though the outside had looked like normal earthy vines, the insides were a rich red colour and cast a fiery glow across the pathway as the sun shone through. It was silent aside from their steps, and Romelle’s heavy breathing behind him.

“Lance why the quiznak are you making me do this,” she shouted after the second circle of the rock.

“It’s an adventure Romelle!” Lance called back and Keith could hear the amusement in his voice.

“Could’ve had an adventure without stairs,” Romelle muttered and Keith laughed out loud.

It took them thirty minutes to climb to the top, but it was more than worth it as the moss and vines cleared away and the three of them stood above the world.

“Ta da!” Lance cried, gesturing around them as they walked out onto the green field. It was gorgeous, the ground soft beneath them and covered in wildflowers, the suns in the sky close to touching the horizon which stretched on for miles around them.

Lance slipped his hand in Keith’s and squeezed lightly, as Romelle flopped to the ground beside them.

“So,” Lance said, “Coran isn’t expecting us back for a while so I thought we could watch the sunset together.”

“As long as I don’t have to move for the next hour, that sounds great,” Romelle called from the ground. Keith laid his head on Lance’s shoulder.

“This is great,” Keith said softly. It was exactly what he wanted after a long day around too many people. To be alone with Lance, or as close to alone as they ever were.

“It’s also really private, apparently there is a rumour about that pathway and ghosts so no one comes up here.”

“Even better,” Keith smiling, Lance chuckling beside him as Romelle muttered about getting a room.

“Hey Romelle,” Lance called, “Do you remember how to make flower crowns?”

Romelle sat up quickly and narrowed her eyes at him, “Do  _ I  _ remember how to make flower crowns. If I remember correctly, I’m the one who taught  _ you _ how to make flower crowns, Prince.”

Keith definitely recognised the glint in Lance’s eyes, it was the same look he got every time he’d challenged Keith to something during their ‘rivalry’. Keith wasn’t sure he liked that Romelle had a spark that was almost identical.

“Doesn’t mean you haven’t lost your touch,” Lance teased. Romelle got to her feet and crossed her arms, standing with one hip jutted out to the side. Lance mirrored the motion, stepping away from Keith and putting his hands on his hips. Keith stared uncomfortably between the two of them and wondered if this was how Shiro felt whenever Keith and Lance had competed.

“I suppose we’ll just have to have a little competition, shall we?”

“It’s the only solution. Keith can judge.” Lance gestured at Keith without looking at him.

“He’s your boyfriend that’s not fair.”

“Yeah, but he’s afraid of you.”

“I am not!” Keith cried, throwing his hands up, but neither Altean paid him any mind.  “True,” Romelle continued, “So, normal rules?”

Lance nodded and the two of them sat down across from each other, interlocking their arms in an x shape.

“Three, two, one,” they chanted then pushed off one another and started grabbing at flowers.

Keith blinked, watching as Lance and Romelle started carefully picking flowers from the fields around them. Keith didn’t really understand what had just happened, but he pulled his travel sketchbook out from its place in the inside pocket of his jacket and sat down a few metres away and started to sketch.

He still hadn’t told Lance about his drawings, he’d been able to tell Lance about the day his dad had died, but not that he liked to draw. Keith was just embarrassed. If he told Lance about his drawings, Lance would want to see them, and then Keith would have to show him exactly how much he’d drawn Lance over the years. Keith just needed time to sort through it all and burn some of his Lance obsession first.

But Lance was so enthralled in the competition Keith knew Lance wouldn’t notice what he was doing. 

Watching closely he tried his best to capture the way the suns lowered behind Romelle and Lance’s heads. The determined expressions on both their faces, Romelle’s tongue sticking out to the side as she looped flower stems.

The pair of them chatted away as they worked, some game talk, teasing about events Keith didn’t know about, one time where Lance had brought an entire basket of flowers to make crowns with and had cut every single stem too short. Romelle laughed as Lance spluttered and scowled at her. They also talked about the colony, about lives Keith wasn’t a part of and things he didn’t understand and he couldn’t bring himself to care when Lance looked so happy.

Keith was outlining his sketches when Lance let out a whoop of joy, holding his blue and red flower crown to the sky. Romelle just smiled at him, pulling a second one out from behind that she’d finished while Lance was still working on his first.

“What the quiznak! How?” Lance exclaimed, his mouth distorted into an expression of disgust.

“You’re out of practice, Lance,” Romelle giggled, placing the crown on his head where it rested above his golden crown. Keith looked back down at his drawing and started pencilling in the flower crown when a voice appeared right above him.

“Keith, are you drawing?” Lance asked, making Keith jump out of his skin as Lance looked over his shoulder at his sketchbook.

“I—”

“Oh my god,  _ Keith _ . That’s amazing!” Lance cried, grabbing the notebook before Keith could stop him, to look closer at it while he took a seat beside him. Keith fought the urge to scream or cry or fight as Lance stared intently at the page. “How did I not know you were an artist!”

“I don’t really talk about it much,” Keith replied shakily, curling his legs up so he was hugging his knees, wishing the hill would open up and swallow him so Lance wouldn’t see exactly how embarrassed he was.

“Oh my God, wait,” Lance looked at him a wide smile on his face, “can I model for you? I’ve always wanted to be a model.”

Keith didn’t really want to tell him that he’d actually been Keith’s main reference for almost 4 years now.

“It’s true,” Romelle added, now also looking at Keith’s drawings, increasing his wish to perish by ten, “he used to beg to be allowed to help model for the art classes. But Vera wouldn’t let him.”

Lance bounced on the balls of his feet, as he regarded Keith with bright wide eyes and a hopeful smile. Keith nodded, as if he would ever say no to that look.

“Hah! Thanks, babe! You’ll see that I’m going to be the best model ever!” Lance announced, flexing his arms as he went through a series of stereotypical ‘tough man’ poses. Keith rolled his eyes.

“We’ll see if you can sit still long enough for me to do my sketches,” he teased.

"I can sit still!" Lance waved his hands about to demonstrate how he was very much capable of being still for more than five seconds.

Romelle snorted, and Lance stuck his tongue at her and flipped the page of Keith's sketchbook. Instantly dropping Keith right back into that pit of anxiety. Especially as he managed to turn it right to a full double page study of Lance's face.

"Oh my god." Lance breathed, "Keith…"

Keith wasn't breathing, he could only stare as Lance wordlessly flipped through the pages. Thankfully, Keith  _ had _ drawn the rest of their friends, and some others he'd met. But it was painstakingly clear who his favourite subject had been.

"I don't think Keith's going to have any problems if you can't sit still," Romelle muttered, looking over Lance's shoulder as he flipped through the pages.

"Keith…" Lance repeated, he sounded breathless and Keith supposed it made up for the hyperventilating he was silently doing if Lance didn't say something else soon. "These are amazing!"

“Really?” Keith murmured and Lance looked up at him, his eyebrows arched in disbelief.

“Yes! Quiznak Keith, these are incredible! I can’t believe I didn’t know you could draw like this!”

"You aren't very observant, are you?" Romelle stated dryly and Lance shoved her slightly onto the grass.

Lance looked as though he were going to respond but very suddenly, as though someone had flicked a switch, the sky above them changed to amber and the three of them turned to watch as the suns began to set.

The sky dipped into blues and reds and pinks, shimmers of green rippling through the colours in a way Keith didn’t think possible. It was beautiful.

Despite this Keith couldn’t help but look at Lance. He couldn’t stop himself from staring, watching the sky change to purple in the reflection of Lance’s eyes. Couldn’t help but think how it was more beautiful this way.

Lance caught him staring as he shuffled closer to Keith.

“Why aren’t you watching the sunset babe?” Lance asked, lifting the flower crown he had made to Keith’s head, smiling softly at him.

“This view is better,” Keith replied, not really thinking about his words. For once, his impulsive mouth got him a good response as Lance’s face immediately reddened, his marks glowing brightly in the dimming light of the suns.

“I— You… Oh my god Keith,” Lance flustered, opening and closing his mouth again Lance just shook his head and turned back to the sunset, his lips pursed tightly into a smile. After a moment Lance laid his head against Keith’s shoulder, and Keith wrapped his arm around Lance, pulling him as close as they could get.

Keith pressed a kiss to the top of Lance’s head and turned back to the sunset, content with Lance in his arms. The horizon faded to pinks and yellows, stars appearing across the sky and in that moment, Keith felt unconditionally happy.

Keith wondered how many moments like this he’d missed while with the BOM. He’d already noticed some of the inside jokes he didn’t understand, little competitions between Pidge and Lance that had begun after Keith had left. The way Shiro and Hunk now kept track of how many times they could get Allura to say Quiznak at the dinner table.

He’d missed so much, and it just made Keith more determined to be sure to never missed any of it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave a comment below or come talk to me on [tumblr!](https://donttrusttheclogs.tumblr.com/)


	7. The Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The video Keith snuck out of the last planet is revealed

Lance had made a total of three announcements about the return of movie nights. 

The first had been the moment that he, Romelle and Keith had returned from their day trip. They’d caught the majority of the team as they were leaving dinner and demanded their presence at 7pm sharp the next day in the original movie night lounge.

He’d made the announcement again the next day during the group training session. He’d reminded everyone as he worked with each of his teammates on the defensive moves Krolia had gone over with them. Naturally, Lance had excelled at these techniques and thoroughly impressed Krolia. There was nothing quite like successfully flipping your boyfriend right in front of his warrior mother. 

If you asked Keith about the incident, he’d say Lance had cheated. But the way Lance saw it, he had just done what Krolia had told them and used all the assets at his disposal.

Lance had reminded them all a final time with a speaker announcement that he’d had to bribe Pidge to help him with. By the time they defeated Zarkon, Lance will probably owe the gremlin half of his limbs. But it was worth it. Not that he expected Pidge to ever demand anything back from him, no matter how much she grumbled.

Lance had made three team announcements about the movie night, and yet, as Keith set up the player, there was  _ still _ three people missing. 

“Hunk is on his way,” Keith called out, looking at his phone. “But Allura and Coran aren’t answering their coms.”

Lance sighed, folding his arms across his chest, “Pidge can you find out where in the castle they are? I’ll go get them.”

Pidge opened her monitor and within a few moments she replied, “They’re in Allura’s room.” She frowned, her eyebrows bunched up as she stared at the screen. “They look like they’re arguing.”

“Well, they need to stop arguing and come to movie night,” Lance muttered, though he threw a concerned glance in Keith’s direction. This would be their second fight in two days. 

“Perhaps don’t lead with that,” Shiro warned, “They are stressed, don’t be too harsh on them.”

Lance nodded, “I know, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Lance could hear the Alteans' raised voices from the other side of the hallway.. 

"Princess, I've already had to move him out of the stasis pod, your understanding of quintessence far outweighs my own, I need you to examine him! At least before this becomes much worse, you know how dark—"

"Coran,  _ enough _ !" Allura spat. 

Lance drew a sharp breath. Even after yesterday, Lance had never heard Allura raise her voice like that at Coran. They had always been a force to be reckoned with, standing by one another through everything. Lance supposed that after you lost your entire race, there was nothing to do but stick together. The colony was a new hope for them, they should be overjoyed, but now Lotor was threatening to tear even them apart.

It didn’t help that the pair seemed to be keeping the rest of them in the dark. Was Lotor what they had meant yesterday when Allura told him that he was staying where he was? And what about quintessence? Lotor’s quintessence? Or perhaps the quintessence he had taken from others? 

Lance had too many questions and he wasn’t sure he wanted to answers to them. He’d noticed how the others danced around the topic of Lotor, they told him what he needed to know and nothing more, especially the Alteans. And especially when it came to the things the Galran Prince had done for them over their alliance.

They didn’t need to. Lance knew that Lotor had done some good. Didn’t make him any less of a murderer. 

Lance knocked lightly on Allura’s door, Coran’s voice as he tried to plead with the Princess again cutting off instantly. 

“Allura, Coran?” Lance called lightly, like he hadn’t just heard them yelling, “We’re waiting on you to start movie night.”

The door slid open and Coran beamed down at him, perhaps a better liar than even Lotor. “Of course, my boy! I completely forgot.”

“No worries! Is Allura coming too?” 

“Yes,” Allura appeared in the doorway as well, holding a pillow to her chest. Lance noticed the redness around her eyes, but he didn’t say anything about it.

“Let’s go then!” Lance smiled at them both and walked down the corridor. “Keith picked the movie, he was really excited about one of the films we found at the market yesterday.”

“I hope it has a proper Anglasa twist,” Coran said, quoting an Altean storytelling technique that had always confused the Paladins during movie nights. Lance remembered films that used it back on the colony, though he still didn’t really understand the concept behind it. What was the point of filming important scenes upside down? It made no sense to either side of his memories. 

Coran went on to account some of the best Anglasa films made in his lifetime, two of which they had seen during the original movie nights before Shiro disappeared. Lance walked side by side with Allura as they listen to Coran talk about how he would’ve been cast in the movie if he hadn’t been sworn in as, the newly crowned, King Alfor’s advisor just weeks before. 

The last coronation of Ancient Altea. There had been only a few photos of the event and old stories past down through families, no one left alive who’d actually been there. Except for Coran. Lance couldn’t wait to introduce him to literally everyone he’d known on the colony.

“I think I actually saw that film back on the colony,” Lance interjected as Coran described a very familiar scene.

“That does not surprise me in the least! Your ancestor Prince Marloa was well known for his adoration of Anglasa films, he had the best collection in all of Altea on his ships.”

The castle that Lance had grown up in had been made from the ship of the first king of the Colony. The film collection had been spread out across the people through the generations, but Lance knew that there were a few in the library that Vera used to watch with him before bed. 

“I hope we can find a copy of it when we get to the colony,” Lance said, beaming at the way Coran’s eyes lit up. 

Lance led Allura and Coran into the lounge that had been formally inducted as their movie room, made official by the sign Lance and Pidge had made to hang over the door. Lance couldn’t help but smile as he took in his found family spread across the room. It had been so long since they’d had a night like this, all together again. Shiro sat on the left couch, beside Krolia, talking about some rescue mission they’d done in the months Keith and Krolia had been gone. Coran walked over to join them, immediately chiming in with his own anecdote that had nothing to do with the actual story, but that Shiro and Krolia both listened attentively too anyway.

Romelle was sitting on the edge of the other couch, laughing as Hunk told her some story about Earth, spread out across the same couch with his feet in her lap. Lance’s heart warmed at the sight of them, his two best friends getting along so well. Romelle had slipped into their little family here so easily, even after only a few days. Allura walked over to Pidge and Keith, who were laughing as they half wrestled with each other on the floor as Keith held Pidge’s glasses out of his reach. Allura grinned as she plucked them out of his hand and sat down beside Pidge, laughing at the looks on both of their faces as she put them on. 

Keith looked up to him then, and Lance felt his marks glowing as Keith beamed at him, tapping his hands on his lap. Lance settled between his legs, leaning back against Keith’s chest as his boyfriend’s arms pulled him closer, hugging him tightly. Keith kissed the back of his neck lightly and Lance turned around in his seat, to bring their mouths together properly. 

That is until a pillow hit their face, “Get a room!” Shiro called and Keith put up his middle finger even as the team laughed. Lance just smiled even wider and leaned back against Keith again, intertwining their fingers as he felt Keith’s heartbeat steadily against him.

“Ready when you are babe,” Lance said, and Keith kissed the back of his neck again as he reached for the remote and pressed play. 

The music started softly, building as the screen brightened with streaks of red, blue, yellow, green and purple flying across it. 

“No way,” Hunk muttered. Lance frowned, it was too familiar, why was it so familiar. 

Keith’s lips brushed against his neck again, twisted into a smile and Lance knew. He didn’t want to believe it, he wanted to stay in the world where everything was alright and Keith hadn’t seen the case. Keith couldn’t have seen the case.

Keith laughed against him, tugging him closer even as Lance stiffened in his arms as the streaks of colour formed a title screen.

 

**The Voltron Show!**

**Special Edition: On Ice and other live shows**

 

“Nope!” Pidge said, starting to get up, but Keith snatched her arm, pulling her forcefully back to the floor with a thump. 

“You wouldn’t make me watch the show without the stars would you?” 

Lance was becoming concerned that awakening this mischievous side of Keith may not have been the best idea. 

“I don’t want to be a part of this,” Pidge whined, looking pointedly at Shiro, who honestly looked like he wanted to die. 

“Shiro,” Keith added, “come on, it’s movie night, you made the rules.” And that was the moment the entire room knew that Keith had won. Shiro had forced Keith to more than one group activity with those rules, Keith knew full well Shiro would never go back on them. 

“Keith’s right, everyone sit down, it’s his turn to choose so let’s get this over with.” At least Shiro was as unhappy with it as the rest of them, excluding Romelle, who looked curious, and Krolia who was demonstrating exactly where Keith got his smirk from.

Lance rolled his head back on Keith’s shoulder, refusing to look as Keith pressed the  **play all** option and the title sequence began. Coran’s warped accent echoed around the room, the older Altean sighing from where he sat. 

_"Tonight, the Paladins of Voltron take on Zarkon on ice!”_

Lance watched with increasing amounts of embarrassment as Coran and Bi-boh-bi narrated as they battled Zarkon and Haggar in a display of ribbon blasts until Shiro awkwardly called the fatal words. 

“We need teamwork! The only way to defeat Zarkon is with Voltron.” 

Hunk whined behind him, and Pidge buried her head in her hands as the five of them formed Voltron using the cardboard cutouts that Coran had provided. Keith at least was getting a kick out of it, shaking with laughter, Lance feeling every single laugh against him. 

This was the general mood of the room as they watched show after show. 

Pidge protesting every time her character was forced to speak random  _ incorrect _ maths. 

Romelle laughing through prayers of thanks in Altean as ‘loverboy Lance’ descended from the ceiling in the third show. Lance had been excited to show off the long hours he and Rachel had put into dancing growing up, but now all he could do was hope that Vera never got a hold of these videos.

Hunk sighing through his fifteen minutes special episode, as Coran made him fall again and again with increasingly loud sound effects. 

They defeated fake Zarkon after fake Zarkon, the ‘magic’ of Haggar, fortunately, getting better and better as the hoops Coran had made them jump through git higher and higher.

Lance grimaced as his special came on, the start of the pole dancing routine he’d offered to do. Romelle laughed as he moved gracefully around the pole, shooting enemies as he did it. He at least looked damn good in his special, confirmed by the shiver of the body behind him, Keith pulling him closer, muttering “damn” in his ear, something very obvious sticking into his back.

A kink Lance filed away for later.

Keith cackled his way through Shiro’s special, and Lance had vivid memories of Coran yelling at Shiro for looking so awkward saying the lines. Especially when he was made to ‘save’ a damsel in distress who took the opportunity to kiss him at the end. Never had Lance seen a more clear display of gay displeasure than Shiro’s awkward grimace as he half dropped the girl as soon as Coran yelled cut.

A horrible sounding howl filled the room as Allura groaned, and everyone in the room could agree that she had had the worst luck in the shows. 

“Why are you even Keith?” the real Keith asked, frowning at the projector.

“Apparently not enough people knew that you had left, Coran believed it would be too confusing,” Allura muttered as enemies surrounded ‘Keith’.

“I think Coran just thought lone wolf Keith was a better character.” Pidge said as ‘Keith’ howled into the camera, ending the special. 

The music for the next show was different, slower than the usual upbeat music. Lance knew which show this was. He curled himself up tighter, hugging his knees as the title began to form. He remembered filming this, back before they really knew anything. It felt like a lifetime ago.

 

**The Voltron Show: A New Villain Arrives**

 

Keith squeezed him tighter as the actor playing Lotor stood in the centre of the stage his arms raised in a welcoming gesture. 

“Welcome all,” Lotor purred to the audience, “I am Prince Lotor of the Galra Empire, and I am here as your master. Soon my armies will descend and nothing will stop me from taking the quintessence of all the universe for the glory of the Galran Empire!” Lotor cackled and Lance closed his eyes, fighting his own nightmare of quintessence. How close to the truth Coran’s spectacle had been. 

“Allura?” Coran called, and Lance opened his eyes to see the Princess striding from the room. 

Lance started to get to his feet, to follow her, to help in any way he could. The rest of his friends not far behind. But Shiro stood up first.

“Wait,” he commanded, his tone inviting no arguments, “We don’t want to overwhelm her. I’ll talk to her.” Shiro followed Allura out the room, leaving the rest of them to listen as Voltron defeated Lotor on the screen to the delight of thousands of fans. And Lance wasn’t going to lie, he didn’t hate watching it either. 

 

~~~

Romelle was lost.

Very lost.

She didn’t mean to wander off, she’d just wanted to go back to her room and Lance had offered to show her the way (after the last time she’d wandered around for half the night until she managed to find something familiar) (it’s a very big castle) but Keith had fallen asleep on Lance and Romelle had just rolled her eyes and told him not to worry about it.

It had been a foolish decision. 

Lance wouldn’t even come looking for her because she’d assured him that she knew how to use the map Pidge had given her. What kind of snarflaf couldn’t figure out how to use a basic map?

Her apparently.

So now she was stuck, once again, wandering around aimlessly, desperate to find  _ something _ familiar amongst the dull, grey walls. 

She had resigned herself to another night of hopeless searching for at the very least a  _ bedroom, _ when she heard sniffles from around the corner. She followed the sound and light flooded the hallway as she turned a corner, trailing from a large window at the end of the hall. And seated along the window ledge, her knees tucked up towards her, was Allura. 

Romelle felt like an intruder on the scene, though Allura seemed to have no idea of her presence in the room, her hair tumbling down her shoulders as she leaned against the glass, staring out to the stars. And though Romelle could not see her face, it was clear that Allura was crying. Romelle knew she couldn’t just walk away.

“Princess Allura, are you alright?” Romelle cringed as the Princess jumped, wiping her eyes as she turned haphazardly towards Romelle, knocking something off her lap in the process. Romelle darted forward to pick it up as it rolled away from Allura. 

“Yes I’m perfectly okay,” Allura lied, the redness around her eyes giving her away in a moment. But Romelle didn’t comment on that as she picked up the artifact and turned it over in her hands. It was covered in runes she recognised, ones she’d only seen on the walls of the castle on the colony. 

“Is this from Altea?” Romelle asked, her eyes going wide at the thought of holding something that had come from a homeworld she had only heard stories about. Her excitement only bloomed as Allura nodded. “What is it? Did you take it with you before Altea was destroyed?”

Allura sank into herself as Romelle’s mouth ran with questions, her eyes watering.

“Oh quiznak,” Romelle took a sharp breath, berating herself for her thoughtlessness, “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No, it’s not that,” Allura replied quietly, gazing at the artifact, “Lotor gave that to me.”

Romelle pursed her lips, silently offering the artifact back to Allura who held it close, sighing deeply. Her eyes snapped open again, as though she’d forgotten that Romelle were in the room. 

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, hugging her knees back up to her chest. 

Romelle frowned, “What for?”

“After everything Lotor has done, you must think I am weak for holding onto something he gave me.”

“Allura…” Romelle sighed, moving to sit on the ledge beside the Princess. Pausing as she figured out how to respond. “You’re allowed to miss him.”

Allura huffed a laugh, pressing her forehead into her knees as the laugh turned into a sob.

“You’re really in love with him, aren’t you?” 

Allura looked up before she spoke, though she didn’t look at Romelle, instead she turned to the stars, gazing at the galaxies outside the window and said, “Does that make me a monster?”

“No,” Romelle responded immediately. 

“I’m not sure Lance would agree with you,” Allura muttered. Romelle frowned, scooting forward, grabbing Allura’s hands and pulling on them until she looked at her. 

“Lotor is a masterful liar, he convinced an  _ entire colony _ that he was saving them as he personally escorted them to their deaths. He fooled everyone,  _ including Lance _ , and you must know that Lance would never blame you for falling for Lotor’s lies.”

“But I know now, and I still feel like this,” Allura cried, snatching her hands back to gesture at her tear-stained face, “I know he’s a monster, that he murdered thousands of my people and I still love him!” 

“When I lost my brother, I wasn’t allowed to mourn him,” Romelle replied, watching as the sharpness in Allura’s eyes be rounded with new tears. “No one knew he was dead, no one would’ve believed me if I told them. I had to sit and smile while my entire world fell apart. I thought I’d lost them all, my parents, Bandor, Lance. I was so alone, and it made everything so much worse.” Romelle smiled sadly, “It’s okay if you miss him, and it’s okay if there are days where it hurts so much you can’t breathe. But please, know you aren’t alone in this. I know we don’t know each other very well yet, but if you need someone to talk to, or cry with, I will be here for you. And so will all your friends here, if you let them.”

Allura nodded, mumbling a “thank you,” before turning back to the stars. That was okay too, Romelle was content to just be a presence for the Princess until she was told otherwise. To stare at the unfamiliar constellations until Allura was ready to talk. 

“Coran needs me to examine Lotor.” Allura looked to Romelle, her jaw set, and though she wasn’t crying anymore, she hadn’t bothered to wipe away the tears that stained her face. Romelle couldn’t help but think her strength was beautiful. “I’m so scared to see him.” Allura continued. “I love him so much and I know I need to be strong for you and Lance and the others but I don’t know if I can do it.”

“Allura you are the strongest person I have ever met,” Romelle said, with a huff of indignant laughter. She had heard the stories, from Lance and Coran, had seen the fields of flowers in the memories of Altea from the last two alive who would know them. Allura would never see her home again and she was still standing. It was incredible. 

“I don’t feel strong,” Allura admitted.

“I know,” Romelle took her hands again, squeezing tightly, “But you are, and you will get through this.”

Allura didn’t respond.

“What’s wrong with him?” Romelle asked, pushing the conversation.

“We don’t know, something to do with his quintessence that is above Coran’s understanding.” Allura ran a hand through her hair, “We had to take him out of stasis because it was affecting the pods. I don’t know what to do.”

“You should go see him.”

Allura frowned. 

“You will not be able to rest until you see him.” Romelle elaborated, she knew she couldn’t. “You need to confront him. If only to remind yourself that he is mortal. That we won and he isn’t going anywhere.”

Allura sighed, rubbing her face. “You’re right of course.” She sniffled, “You know, you are quite wise.”

“You should tell Lance that, he could use the reminder.”

Allura laughed, and though it was weak and broken, it was undoubtedly real. 

The laugh died quickly, sadness drawing a curtain across Allura’s face. 

“Will you come with me?” Allura asked quietly.

“To see Lotor?” Romelle blinked, unsure how she felt about seeing the Galran Prince again. 

Allura bit her lip as she looked at Romelle, her eyebrows bunched. Romelle and Lance had told each other they were done with Lotor until they arrived back at the colony. That they would spend two weeks without him on their minds. Going with Allura to visit him was the opposite of that. But Romelle couldn’t bring herself to say no when Allura stared at her like that. Romelle knew what it was to fear seeing Lotor, and she didn’t want any Altean to fear him again. 

Romelle nodded. “I won’t talk to him though.” 

“Thank you.”

Romelle smiled as the relief visibly washed through Allura. 

“You know you aren’t alone in this,” Romelle said, “it’s clear to even me the paladins care for you. Shiro had to force the rest of us to stay behind when he followed you earlier.”

Allura frowned. “Shiro came after me?”

“Yes, he was right behind you, you didn’t see him?”

Allura shook her head. “No, I didn’t.”

"Perhaps he just lost you?” Romelle shrugged, Shiro had left right after Allura, she didn’t know how he could have lost her. 

“Perhaps…”

“But that’s beside the point,” Romelle pulled them back to her point. “I have heard enough stories from Lance and the others to see that you are a family here. Families stick together.” 

Allura nodded, smiling faintly at Romelle, before turning back to the stars. Romelle did the same settling back against the window ledge, their legs tangled together, as they slipped into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Let me know what you thought in the comments below, or come scream to me on [tumblr](https://donttrusttheclogs.tumblr.com)


	8. The Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The garrison trio hang out while Allura confronts Lotor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are wonderful

Lance was reading when Hunk walked in through his open door and collapsed across his legs. It wasn't the first time he'd done this, so Lance was prepared, though it was usually accompanied by a small-sized gremlin launching herself on top of them both. However, this time Pidge stood, her arms crossed, by the door, staring at Lance’s bed like it was a puzzle she was reluctant to solve.

"What? No cuddles today shortstack?" Lance teased, folding the corner of the page to mark his place. Marco, the only other big reader in their house, hated it when Lance folded the corners, but it was a habit, and in space it was really hard to find reliable bookmarks. The last makeshift bookmark Lance had tried to use had melted through his book. 

Pidge raised an eyebrow, only managing to hide it behind her glasses frame. "I just don't want to jump on your bed if you and Keith have been fucking in it." 

The bed shifted and Lance groaned in pain as Hunk scampered off the bed, successfully putting all his weight on Lance’s knee joint, and elbowing him in the thigh. Lance laughed through the pain, as his best friend shuddered, patting his body as though he could brush away the cooties.

"It's okay buddy," he patted his best friend on the back, "We fuck in his bed."

Hunk groaned, "Don't put that image in my head asshole!"

"We've been together for four days, not even I move that fast."

"You've been together for four days," Pidge said, sitting on the floor opposite the bed, "But you've been pining after each other for at  _ least _ three years, so it wouldn't be overly shocking that you jumped each other's bones the first chance you got."

Lance rolled his eyes. Not really wanting to go into the details of his sex life with a baby, he slid to the floor beside Hunk, leaning against his shoulder as he put his book on the bedside table.

"What are you reading?" Hunk asked, just as happy to change the subject.

Lance loved their expressions as the Altean title rolled fluently off his tongue. He’d always found the Altean language easier to learn than the others, but the differences between the version of the language that Allura and Coran spoke and the one that he’d grown up with were so vast that they still struggled understanding one another. Lance loved speaking Altean, it was the same rush he had speaking Spanish amongst his siblings, a memory, a piece of home that was as much a part of his as his marks. 

“Romelle brought it from the colony, it’s her favourite book,” Lance explained. “The romance novel of the ages.”

“Bleugh,” Pidge stuck out her tongue in disgust, shaking her head. “Figures you would be a romantic type.”

"There's nothing wrong with being romantic Pidge!" Lance argued, Hunk nodded in agreement beside him. Lance felt that Shay may have been the cause of Hunk’s love of romance. Not that he was complaining.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just happy I don't have to deal with ant of the drama that goes with it."

“What you’re saying you  _ don’t _ want to be swept up in an intergalactic romance where your other half dreadfully has only half the lifespan of yourself, and is spending it trying to pick between you and your estranged twin brother?” Lance lamented, throwing himself across the floor, his hand poised dramatically across his brow. 

Pidge snorted, kicking Lance lightly in his exposed side causing him to yelp, the snort turning into a cackle at the hyperspeed that Lance wiggled away from her tickling toes.

“How long is your lifespan?” Hunk mused as Lance hid behind his arm, scowling at Pidge. He felt the anger drain from him at the question. It wasn’t the first time they had wondered about Altean lifespans. It was the first time it affected them so directly. Lance had tried not to think about that side of his genetics, what it would mean.

“A thousand decapheobs is the average,” Lance murmured, pulling himself away from Hunk to look at his friends. The three of them had been through so much since they’d been grouped up at the Garrison. It was impossible to imagine his life without them.

“I told you you weren’t allowed to die first,” Hunk muttered after a moment, recalling the running joke they’d had from their time as roommates, as Lance came up with sillier ways to get into trouble Hunk would always grab him before he crossed that final line and hiss that he wasn’t allowed to die first. Lance had begun calling it back as the war with the Galra got more dangerous. What a joke it was now.

Lance huffed a laugh, smiling sadly at his closest friends. He was going to outlive them by hundreds of years. He was going to outlive everyone. His family back on Earth. He was going to look barely out of his twenties when they died. 

And Keith?

With his heritage he could live as long as Lance, longer even, but who knows how much time the universe would give him. How much time it would give them together.

It didn’t seem fair that in order to find his old family, he would have to say goodbye to his new one so soon. Though, he supposed he would’ve found out his heritage wasn’t human when he eventually stopped aging with the rest of his peers. Lance wondered what his mami would have told him then.

“So,” Pidge cleared her throat, dragging the topic from things she could not fix, “Are we having a UNO tournament or not?”

“I’ll deal,” Hunk offered, shuffling the makeshift UNO cards the trio had made from an Altean pack of playing cards Lance had found while exploring. “Is Keith or Romelle coming?”

“Nah,” Lance replied, “They are both helping with the Lotor thing.” Lance didn’t miss the side glance between his two friends. They’d all been offered to join in the interrogation. Romelle had come to him after breakfast to talk to him about it, how Allura needed to do this and she needed Romelle there with her. Lance was starting to think Romelle might like the Princess, she’d always had a soft spot for blue eyes. Lance had declined the invitation to join, both when Romelle asked and twenty minutes later when Keith asked as well. Keith would tell him anything he needed to know without seeing his parent’s killer.

Though, as long as Lotor stayed in that cage until he could pay for everything he’d done, Lance honestly didn’t care what became of him. 

Lance picked up his cards, grinning slyly at the mediocre cards in his hands—half of UNO is the bluffing after all. It was time to bring the pain.

 

* * *

 

Keith cried out as a sharp pain pierced through his forehead. 

Keith had always prided himself of his gracefulness, he had spent hours as a kid doing the obstacle courses his dad used to train the firefighters how to get through a burning, and possibly collapsing, building. He hadn’t once tripped on the ridiculous flooring in the castle, something even Shiro had done on multiple occasions. And yet, it was now, with both Krolia and Shiro watching, that he walked into the glass door of the holding cells.

Shiro coughed into his hand, hardly trying to cover the snickers. Krolia raised a purple eyebrow at Keith as he turned to glare at Shiro, “The handle is on the left,” she said as Shiro broke down with laughter again. Keith sighed, rubbing his forehead, vowing to  _ never _ tell Lance this had ever happened and opened the door.

Allura and Romelle sat side by side in the first room of the dungeon—Allura  _ hated _ it when they called them a dungeon, it was a ‘holding room’ but it was a dungeon.—it was set up like an alien cop show, the two of them sat in front of a giant mirror looking into the second room where Lotor sat across a table from Coran, his hands in white and blue glowing cuffs. The usual cuffs they used were quintessence based, most of their systems were quintessence based, but Coran had told them, rather worriedly, that they couldn’t use quintessence on Lotor as he, or something inside him, was using the quintessence and morphing it into something dark. 

“We can’t help you if you don’t tell us what is happening.” It wasn’t often Keith heard Coran like this, his face void of any joke or quip, straight lines as he leaned closer to Lotor, his fists clenched on the table. 

Lotor sneered at the Altean. “Who said I needed your help.” Like clockwork the room seemed to darken, an aura surrounded Lotor, his breathing became erratic as the darkness pulsated around him. Lotor threw his head forward, his hands clenched into fists as his body shook. And then he screamed.

Keith’s blood turned cold at the sound, the deafening scream that sparked right up his spine as the darkness pounded against an invisible barrier separating Coran and Lotor. Shiro swore under his breath and Keith glanced up at his mother, who looked as concerned as he felt. From the limited amount Keith knew about quintessence, this wasn’t right. It felt wrong, all of it felt wrong. Keith could feel Black in the back of his mind, the way he reared back from the darkness, all of his instincts yelling at him to run.

Romelle put her arm on Allura’s shoulder, Allura’s own hands clenched in her lap. 

Coran sat unimpressed, staring at Lotor with a raised eyebrow. It was times like this that Keith was reminded this wasn’t Coran’s first war. 

“This will continue to get worse, until it kills you” Coran spat. Lotor heaved, looking up at Coran between the strands of his messy hair. 

“Then let it kill me,” Lotor coughed, blood spraying the table, “I refuse to talk to anyone but her.” 

Allura moved before Keith or anyone could stop her, her hand snatched out of Romelle’s grasp as she moved into the holding cell, the door behind Coran opening with a bang.

Coran jumped to his feet, putting his body in between Allura and Lotor. 

“Allura, you don’t—” Coran started, but cut off at the cold hard stare Allura gave him. She shook her head. 

“Yes, I do,” she said, calmer than any of them felt. Coran sighed, closing his eyes, but then nodded. He moved past her towards the door, casting a mournful look over his shoulder as the Princess sat in front of Lotor.

  
  


* * *

 

Allura knew that her friends—her family—was just outside that door, mere steps from where she sat. But as she stared into the eyes of the man she’d… the man she... she had never felt more alone. She wanted to go to him. To claw his eyes out so they would stop looking at her, to kiss him, to punch him and scream and cry and hurt him and love him.

She loved him. 

And he was a monster. 

What did that say about her?

Romelle was out there, watching, her life ruined because of the man in front of Allura. She’d let him in, swallowed his lies and helped him achieve everything he wanted. She’d let him into her heart.

She couldn’t think about that now. She had a mission. A purpose. A reason to be here.

_ Focus Allura. _

“What is wrong with your quintessence?” she demanded, her voice unwavering. 

She just wished her heart was so unwavering as he opened his mouth to reply.

“I’m sorry,” was all he said.

“That’s not an answer.”

Her friends were right outside but here she was all alone.

“Allura,” he said her name like he always did, as though it was the softest thing in the universe. “Please. I’m sorry.”

He didn’t deserve her name.

“Why?” she said, biting the word out, clenching her hands in her lap, her nails digging into the skin of her hands.

“Because I hurt you, I love you and—”

“No.” Allura snapped, cutting him off, his eyes widened at her tone, but he let her talk. “Why did you do it? Why did you tell me you loved me when you had killed thousands of my people. What did you get out of breaking my heart?” 

Lotor shuddered, slumping forward partially, his hands pulling on the restraints as he shook his head. “I don’t know. I couldn’t stop it. The quintessence‚ I needed it,” Lotor looked up at her and Allura stood up in her seat, stepping back as Lotor looked at her with blackened eyes. Allura felt her own quintessence rise up as Lotor—or whatever this thing was—smiled at her. 

Corruption—probably put there by Haggar. Allura could fix this. She had the might of Oranianth’s teachings behind her. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she set her jaw and stepped forward, her hand, glowing with quintessence, passing through the barrier right as the darkness exploded around Lotor. 

And then she screamed.

 

* * *

 

Keith pounded against the door, locked the moment Allura had broken the barrier between her and Lotor. A safety procedure that Coran had said only Allura could override. He shouldn’t have left her in there by herself, he’d seen it in her eyes, the moment she’d decided to throw all _caution_ _and sense_ to the wind. Lance would laugh at him for that thought, start listing off the times Keith had done the same. Lance wouldn’t have let her go in by herself. 

The darkness had engulfed the room entirely, Shiro had commed Pidge who was working hard to hack into the room but there wasn’t much she could do. Even if she got in, how would the rest of them battle dark quintessence without Allura. 

As horrible as it was, the screaming was the only hope they had. It told them that Allura was still alive. Romelle hadn’t moved since they’d lost sight of Allura, her eyes wide as she stared at the glass, her fingers twitching in her hands, and Keith was certain he’d seen her hands shift forms, growing claws and changing colour, almost as though it was a type of fidgeting. 

Keith knew that this wasn’t how Lotor had sucked the quintessence from the colonial Alteans, but it still could not be easy for Romelle to watch this. 

There was nothing they could do but wait.

 

* * *

 

Lotor had known pain before. He had been beaten, abandoned, betrayed more times that he could count. None of it compared to this. To that piece of him that had always pushed him towards quintessence, made him  _ crave  _ it, was finally fighting back, for control. Control over him, his quintessence. It had latched onto every drop he’d been exposed to in the quintessence field, had been burning through it as the corruption grew, and grew. 

It would do the same to her.

It was doing it to her. He could hear her screaming somehow, as though the creature—the being—wanted him to watch as it destroyed her. There was nothing he could do but beg. 

_ Not her. Not her. Not her. _

 

* * *

 

It was like nothing she had ever felt before, nothing that Orienth could have prepared her for. It was old. Older than her, older than Lotor. Older than the quintessence she’d felt at Orianth. It was nothing like the corrupted quintessence Haggar used, this  _ was corruption _ . The very heart of evil. And it was rooted so deep within Lotor that Allura could barely see the soul she knew so intimately. Her own power sought him out, cutting through the darkness as it tried to swallow her entirely, trying to reach him, if even for a moment. He was so close.

So close. 

So close.

It was so dark here.

Light flooded as Blue’s eyes opened in her mind, in Lotor’s mind, and the darkness reared back.

 

* * *

Romelle stayed until the darkess cleared. Until she could see Allura, until she saw her open the door to Coran and Shiro, until she watched Allura talk to Coran with that same expression that she’d had before she’d broken the barrier. Romelle could feel the quintessence, the stain of it in the air, it was the same as when she’d found her brother.

She couldn’t watch it happen again.

“Romelle?” Keith called as she stood. Romelle paused.

“Tell Allura I’m sorry,” she strode out of the room. She didn’t know where she was going, she didn’t really care, she just needed to get away. 

She was halfway down the hallway when Keith’s voice reached her. “Romelle wait!” She didn’t want to see him, she didn’t want to see anyone but her brother. The one person who was there, who’d been there when Lance disappeared, who loved her. The last person Lotor had stolen from her. She couldn’t watch it happen again.

Keith caught up to her easily, he grabbed her arm and turned him towards him. Romelle set her jaw, refusing to shy away, to hide. She wouldn’t hide. Keith looked at her wide-eyed for a moment, and then pulled her close, wrapping his arms tight around her as he let her cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they're gonna be happy one day, right?   
> Anyway, thanks for reading!! I love every single one of you, especially those who keep coming back even though im a disaster at updating xx youre all wonderful


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